


Halloween: Blood Ties

by AyItsJay



Category: Halloween Movies - All Media Types, Victorious
Genre: Adventure, Blood, Character Death, Crossover, F/F, F/M, Horror, Murder Mystery, Suspense
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-03-08
Updated: 2019-03-21
Packaged: 2019-03-28 10:01:55
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 12
Words: 43,151
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13901679
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AyItsJay/pseuds/AyItsJay
Summary: A serial killer from the 70's, previously thought to be dead, targets a group of Hollywood Arts students on Halloween night 2011. Meanwhile the sheriff of Haddonfield teams up with detective Vega to pick up where the murderer's doctor left off, stopping the evil once and for all. All while a monumental storm threatens to rock L.A. To those lucky enough to survive, Halloween will never be the same again!





	1. An Evil Rises Again

**Author's Note:**

> Hi! First time posting on here, so I'm posting a story that I started on another site to try and get the hang of this place. Forgive me for any editing mistakes, I'm learning. Hopefully this story reaches a few new people in the process. Anyway, hope you like it!
> 
> *From original Author's Note*
> 
> For people who aren't familiar with the movie series Halloween, the background will be explained throughout the story, as the characters themselves learn. For people who do know about the movies, I spent quite a bit of time picking and piecing together the retcons throughout the timelines to form one coherent timeline. If you have any questions on that, I'd be more than happy to answer them!

**Haddonfield, Illinois**

 

"Car eighty four responding to the four-one-five at the old Myers house, Campbell and King on scene."

Two men stepped out of their squad car and into the chilly autumn air in Illinois. Leaves littered the streets, blowing past houses decorated with Jack-O'-Lanterns and spooky lawn props. The two officers walked up the stairs of a once beautiful Victorian style house, passing the TP'd front lawn and an old, decrepit 'For Sale' sign.

"Fucking kids." Chief Deputy King spat, tearing down toilet paper from the front door. "Always messing with this place."

"It's almost Halloween, what do you expect? Besides, what better way to end your boring career, than with a week full of disturbance calls?" The rookie, Deputy Campbell joked.

"Yeah you wish you could get rid of me that easily, I still have till the end of the the week, and that's including Halloween." The chief deputy eyed the place up and down before turning to his partner. "Speaking of Halloween, you _do_ know whose house this is, right rook?"

"How could anyone in this town not remember?"

"Thankfully this generation seems to have forgotten. Now this is just a rundown house used for pranks and parties."

"You know, I've always wondered what really happened here. You hear a lot of crazy stories growing up." The rookie pondered as he followed his commanding officer into the house and onto the creaky floorboards. Under the floorboards, dust trickled down into the shadows of the basement and onto the outline of a figure lying dormant.

"I was there you know," Chief Deputy King revealed as the rookie's jaw dropped.

"What?! And you never told me?"

"Yeah I'm not so boring now, am I?"

"You gotta tell me how it actually went down!" Deputy Campbell pleaded.

"Alright, alright. I was a youngster, just like you actually. But after what I saw that night I left Haddonfield."

"Why did you come back?" The rookie asked, while the deputy chief got lost in his thoughts.

"Huh? Sorry, my mind wondered."

"I said why did you come back to Haddonfield?"

"No matter where I went, I was haunted by what I witnessed here that night... and one day I just decided I couldn't run away anymore. I had to come back and face my demons."

"How poetic," The rookie cackled.

"On the bright side, if I hadn't come back, I would not have met my wife."

"Poor Mrs. King!" Deputy Campbell teased. "So, can you tell me what happened?"

"Maybe another time, we should get back to work."

"C'mon, please! All these things you hear growing up, I want to know if they are true!"

"I'd rather do my job," The senior officer scolded.

"Yeah because busting potheads behind Haddonfield High is such a blast." The rookie thought for a moment. "How about this, I say what I've heard growing up over the years, and you can correct me if I'm wrong."

"Fine, ask away, but only a couple of questions."

"Okay first things first, was it true he was like gigantic, like almost seven feet tall?"

"No that was a myth that got blown out of proportion. He was just a man, like you and me."

"That's somehow creepier."

"Yeah exactly, you can easily spot a giant. But with him... he could blend in, especially on a Halloween night."

"Okay, umm.. Oh! Was it true Dr. Loomis shot him like twelve times that night?" The rookie asked, taking a seat on the dusty couch.

"That's what he said at the time. Who knows, he could have just grazed him, or he could have missed completely." The chief reminisced, taking a seat across from the rookie.

"Yeah that's true. But suppose Dr. Loomis did shoot him that night, he just got up and walked away from all that?"

"Scary to think about isn't it?"

"Nightmare fuel," The rookie replied. "But why did he do it?"

"Kill all those people? I don't know, nobody ever had enough time to ask, not like he'd answer anyway. Most people would say he was just insane. There were others however, who believed he was cursed.

"Cursed?" The rookie asked, perplexed.

"Bunch of nutcases. They said it was an ancient curse that dated way back before our time, where tribes would mark one man who would have to sacrificially kill his family in order to save the rest of the tribe from droughts and plagues."

"That's an...interesting theory. So what now? Do you think he's just resting in the countryside somewhere? Scavenging and living like a hermit?"

"You're asking the wrong guy. Officially, he's dead."

"Maybe he's finally, you know, at peace or whatever. Think about it, if that curse thing really was the reason. All of his family is dead now. What other reason would he have to go on?"

He hesitated for a split second. "O-of course. Myers is long gone."

"Why'd you stutter?"

"Nothing. No reason. It's the dust, allergies. Let's get out of here." He said, getting up off the chair and starting for the front door.

"You know something don't you? C'mon, tell me!" The rookie pleaded, stopping the older deputy from heading to the door.

"I can't say anything. Especially not in this house."

"Who's gonna know? C'mon!"

"No! We are leaving."

"Please. Please. Please. Pleeeease?"

"When did you get so damn annoying?"

"I'll take it to my grave, I promise!" The rookie whined.

"You better not say a goddamn word to anyone, you got that?" The chief deputy ordered sternly.

"My lips are sealed, I just wanna know!" The young man exclaimed giddily.

"Fine!" Chief Deputy King caved in, taking out a handkerchief and wiping off his forehead. "You're lucky I'm retiring, or we wouldn't even be having this discussion." He took a deep breath before continuing. " _Apparently_ , the Myers' bloodline isn't exactly...dead."

"Wait, what?! What do you mean?" The rookie couldn't handle the suspense.

Chief Deputy King sighed, using the handkerchief on his forehead again. "I hate talking about this shit. See what you are doing to me Rook?"

"The story, chief!" The rookie egged him on, as he was dying to hear anything and everything about the town's haunted past.

"Okay, okay. Well, you know how the sheriff keeps the Myers' file locked in his office and doesn't let anyone near it?"

"We still have a file on Myers?" Deputy Campbell asked.

"You didn't hear it from me." The older deputy exhaled before continuing. "Anyways, this morning, a woman calls, asking for the file, claiming she is related to him."

"What did you say?" The rookie inquired, completely immersed in the story.

"I, of course, tell her I have no idea what she's talking about. So, she hung up."

"That's anticlimactic." Deputy Campbell frowned.

"Let me finish. Not even five minutes later, I get a call from the sheriff telling me to expect a call from that woman again and to send the file wherever she says."

"Hooooly shit. Hooo-oh-ohhh-ly shiiit." The rookie started to freak out. After dramatically recollecting his composure, much to the dismay of the deputy chief, who stood by watching the whole thing unamused, he continued. "So you're saying... Michael still has family out there?"

"We only talked once, but I guess so."

"This is huge! I  _need_ to talk to her! Wow! A Myers is still alive! She could be a celebrity here!" The Rookie rambled.

"I don't know about that."

"Why not!?"

"People in this town don't like being reminded about those times. Kids may tell stories but the older folks, the people who lived through those incidents… They don't want to remember. I sure as hell don't."

"Fine she'd be infamous, but still a celebrity," The rookie tried to process the situation. "Whoa. Wait, so you talked to Michael Myers' last known relative as recently as _this_ morning and you waited 'til now to say something!? Why'd she want that file?"

"I'm not too sure. We didn't talk for very long. But the sooner it's gone the better, it's like a bad omen to this town."

"She has to know Michael hasn't been seen or heard from in over thirty years...right?"

"I'm guessing she does."

"Did you send her the file already?"

"Not yet. I still have to mail it. That's why we're sending it right after we are done here. It's in the car, ready to go."

"Maybe I can flip through it before we mail it?" His superior officer glared at him. "Fine, fine. But still, good for you Chief, moving on with your life."

"Hell, I won't be moved on until I'm off on a beach with my family somewhere, with all of this behind me and out of my mind."

"Well, you know I love a good party. We should totally-" The rookie was interrupted by a loud thud from the basement. Both men froze in their tracks, a slight look of terror on their face as what sounded like footsteps from below echoed up to their floor.

"Kids still here?" The rookie whispered.

"Or a vandal. Let's check it out." The chief deputy pointed towards the door that led to the basement.

"No one's been down there in awhile." The rookie observed, wiping off the thick layer of dust he got on his hand from opening the door.

"Haddonfield Sheriff's Department. Identify yourself!" Chief Deputy King shouted down into the darkness of the basement.

"Come out now!" Deputy Campbell added, to no response.

"You go outside, go around and come through the cellar door in the back. I'll go through the basement door." Chief Deputy King ordered, not taking any chances with an intruder in the basement.

"B-but-" The rookie pleaded.

"Now!" The rookie hesitantly stepped away and headed towards the back. The deputy chief took a deep breath as he slowly descended the staircase, each step creaking louder than the last one. Finally making it to the bottom, the experienced deputy realized just how dark it actually was down there. Despite it being early in the afternoon with the sun shining bright, the basement was pitch black, with zero light leaking in from the outside. He drew his flashlight from his belt and started heading towards the back of the basement.

"Hey Rook?" Chief Deputy King called out but nothing stirred. It seemed as if the air stood still in the dark atmosphere. He walked to a corner of the room, taking a deep breath as he reached an old door. His hand stopped just before the doorknob, shaking, unsure if he wanted to know what was behind it. He tightened the grip on his pistol, then flung it open, jumping back when a cloud of dust erupted from the room.

"Jesus!"

"Christ!"

Both deputies screamed as they bumped into each other in the darkness. The rookie bursted out in laughter.

"You could have given me a heart attack!" Chief Deputy King chastised.

"I'm soooo sorry!" The rookie apologized sarcastically, wiping away the tears from laughing so hard.

"Let's just get out-" King put his hand up to try and block out the light. "Get that damn flashlight out of my face will you?!" He commanded. The chief deputy watched as the rookie's facial expression morphed into that of pure terror. Before he even realized what was going on, he felt a hand grab the back of his neck. The sharp pain made him tense up, which accidentally caused him to discharge his firearm. The next thing he knew he heard a second gunshot, then a horrible pain in his chest as if all the air in his body was drawn out of him. He fell onto the floor, bringing along his flashlight, which cast the perfect spotlight onto the rookie sitting against the wall, clutching his neck with both of his hands, trying to stop the bleeding. The rookie's flashlight landed in his lap, aimed upwards, revealing the figure's white mask as he stood over the deputy. The figure stepped over him and headed towards the stairs. Chief Deputy King managed to muster every last bit of energy he had and grabbed onto the figure's leg, trying to prevent him from escaping. It was to no avail, as the masked man easily powered through his grasp without breaking stride. The deputy's vision went blurry as he could barely make out the figure moving it's way up the stairs. The last thing to cross his mind was the envelope that sat in the squad car - already marked and addressed.

 

[…]

 

Hours later, cop cars surrounded the Myer's residence, a scene that played out so many times in the past. The sheriff walked under the yellow tape and into the house, prepared for the worse. He made his way down to the basement, walking up to the medical examiner.

"What happened?"

"From the looks of it, it seems like cause of death for both men are gunshot wounds, one to the neck and the other to the chest." She said, kneeling down next to the dead bodies, pulling back the white sheet and showing the sheriff the wounds.

"But these were good men..."

"Maybe something startled them, or they startled each other down here in the dark. Wish I could tell you something better, but that's what it looks like. I'm sorry Sheriff." She laid a hand on his shoulder, trying to comfort him.

The sheriff paid his respects and went back upstairs. Refusing to believe this, he found the officer who was the first to arrive on scene.

"Where is their car?" He asked the first responder.

"There was no car, sir."

"What, how?" He asked, confused.

"My guess, a Halloween prank."

"A Halloween prank?"

"Yeah, some kids see an abandoned squad car. Think it's a perfect chance for a 'double-dog dare.' You know kids."

"Yeah... kids." The sheriff muttered, unconvinced.

_It can't be a coincidence this all happens at the Myers house. Not when it's this close to Halloween._ He thought to himself.

"With all due respect sir, you're stressed. No one can blame you either. Get out of here, get some rest, you'll feel better. We'll take care of it."

The sheriff got into his squad car as his mind started to race, triggering his flashbacks. He took a deep breath, trying to regulate his breathing. His head was pounding and his chest tightened. The week leading up to Halloween was always the worst time for him. His bad memories always flared up, resulting in his 'condition' being worse this time of year. He dug into his pocket until his hand hit what he was looking for. He popped the top off the bottle, pouring two pills into his hand. He had his hand up to his mouth ready to swallow his medication when he felt his breathing settle and his headache slowly melt away. The sheriff exhaled in relief, returning the pills to their container before taking off. He arrived at the police station not too long after, heading directly to his office. He rifled through the drawer where he kept the Myers file, finding it to be empty. He was hoping that his chief deputy had sent the file already, as the alternative was far too frightening. His thoughts were interrupted by his ringtone. Frustrated, he answered his phone.

"Yeah?" He snapped.

"Hello to you too," the medical examiner from the crime scene replied.

"Sorry."

"I found something of interest, on the back of the sheriff's neck. Almost like a hand print, but it's too early to tell."

"So you are saying someone else WAS there."

"I'm not saying that exactly, I can't be sure, but it's a possibility. Probably a homeless person." The medical examiner suggested.

"Thanks for informing me, I gotta make a call. Keep this between us." The sheriff hung up quickly and punched a new number into his phone. Within ten minutes, he found the location of the missing squad car and was on his way out to a diner/garage trucker stop on the outskirts of town.

The sheriff pulled into an almost deserted parking lot, noticing only a cop car and a couple of vehicles parked in 'employee only' spots. He walked up to the squad car, door still open, and noticed something on the floor. It was an envelope containing the Myers file, both the county's files and Dr Loomis' notes still intact.

He read the shipping label, only being able to make out _H.A._ , _Los Angeles_ ,  _California_ , the rest being illegible. He put the envelope into his own squad car, and swiftly made his way towards the front door. Drawing his weapon, he cautiously entered the diner.

"Sheriff's Department, anyone here?" He called out, not getting a response as he walked into the deserted diner's main dining room. The sheriff inspected a cup of coffee, seeing steam rise from above the cup. He peeked behind the counter, finding a waitress with a kitchen knife still stuck in her chest.

He froze as he felt an icy chill go up his spine.

"Hello Michael." He greeted, not having to turn around to know who was there. He spun around to a truly terrifying sight. A man stood across the diner from him, looking no different from the night he last saw him. His white mask hiding the evil behind it, and the dark blue mechanic coveralls still littered with bullet holes. This was a day he had been dreading for the past sixteen years.

"Why are you back, Michael? WHAT DO YOU WANT?!" The sheriff yelled as he raised his gun and fired until he heard the clicking of an empty magazine. He rubbed his eyes violently, realizing he was firing at thin air. He stumbled back onto a stool at the counter as he was hit by the flashbacks again. He dropped his weapon as his hands shot up to the sides of his temples, the cause being a horrible headache. He staggered to the kitchen, splashing his face as he finally calmed down. The sheriff turned around and nearly jumped out of his skin, seeing the chef of the diner laying in a pool of his own blood farther back in the diner's kitchen. Around this time another deputy came through the doors of the diner, weapon drawn. Finding the sheriff, he holstered his firearm.

"You alright, sir? I heard shots."

"Yeah I'm-I'm fine." The sheriff reassured as he made his way into the garage area of the building, followed closely by the deputy.

"My god, what happened here?" The deputy asked as both men found the mechanic of the garage bloodied and beaten, strung up in chains. The sheriff also noticed a vehicle was missing from the garage.

"Just keep the place locked down and keep everyone out of here. If anything gets out, this was a robbery gone bad. You got that?" The sheriff gave instructions as both men left the building.

"Yes sir." The young officer followed to the sheriff's car. "What are you going to do?" He asked through the open window of the squad car.

"I have to stop it from happening again." The sheriff's squad car screeched out of the parking lot.

 

**Los Angeles, California**

_October 29, 2011._

 

"Hey Cat!" Tori greeted her redheaded friend as she walked down the hall.

"Oh, hi Tori," Cat responded with a tiny smile.

"What's wrong?" Tori asked, thrown off by Cat's unusual attitude.

"It's my brother. My parents said he isn't doing very well."

"That 'special' hospital isn't helping him huh?"

"Nope. They thought it would finally be the one to help him, but I guess not. So much for moving to Idaho." Cat murmured.

"Oh, I'm sorry Cat... hey, we can have a sleepover party at my place this weekend? It'll get your mind off things." Tori offered. "C'mooon, being sad and alone is a bad combo." She gave Cat a small nudge, trying to convince her.

"Thanks, Tori but I won't be alone."

"Oh yeah, your roommate." Tori recalled. "Sam, right? How is she?"

"She's fine," Cat answered, not really into the conversation.

"We can still have a slumber party if you want."

Beck, Andre, and Robbie made their way down the stairs of the school, joining Tori and Cat at Tori's locker, although they were already in the middle of their own conversation.

"We gotta go today, before all the good costumes sell out!" Robbie insisted.

"Go where?" Tori asked as he peaked her curiosity.

"This new SUPER HALLOWEEN store!" Robbie gushed, pulling up their website on his PearPhone.

"Wow, looks hardcore." Tori said as she looked at it's website.

"They should have exactly what I need," Robbie added excitedly.

"Oh yeah, and what's that?" Andre asked. "Little bo Peep again like you did in 8th grade? Or do you do still have that costume from the spring recital?"

They all chuckled at the thought of Robbie dressed in pantaloons and a bonnet.

"That was one time! And it was for my sister's drama production!" Robbie defended.

"Alright, alright. So tell us what are you really going to be for Halloween?" Tori asked.

"Not yet, once it's all in place, I'll tell you guys. Wouldn't want to give you false hope," he said proudly.

Tori, Beck and Andre held in their chuckles, saving Robbie what's left of his pride.

"What about you, Andre? What are you thinking of going as?" Tori asked her best friend.

"Well my uncle-"

"The real estate agent?"

"Yeah, the real estate agent. He sold a house to a bunch of hippies last month, needed to make the house to their liking so he's got a bunch of stuff at his office he said I can have. Probably got some cool threads I could wear."

"You've been awfully quiet," Tori stated as she turned to Beck. "Any ideas on what you're going as?" She asked.

Beck shrugged, uninterested.

"Well you can always just go as 'Lame Canadian Boy Without A Costume' as a last resort." Andre joked, to everyone else's amusement.

"What's so bad about Canada?" Beck defended.

"Let's see, their money, their army, their accents, their-" Jade contended, joining the group.

"Okay, okay. I get it." Beck caved. "What are you going as?" He added, his question towards his ex-girlfriend.

"Tawny, duh." Jade replied, to a collective groan from the group.

"Don't you think that's a little… I don't know, overused?" Tori spoke up.

"Not as much as your goody two shoes get up," she spat back.

"I'm not a goody two shoes!"

"Oh yeah Vega? And what are you going as?"

"Well, if you must know, I'm going to be... an angel," Tori revealed as Jade scoffed.

"Sweet Sally Peaches going as an angel, how original!" Jade mocked.

"What made you want to be an Angel?" Andre asked.

"My dad was watching Angels in the Outfield the other night and I felt like being an Angel for halloween!"

"Wow, I almost died from your lame story."

"Hey! Don't make fun of me because I don't like being an undead murderer. I think Halloween should be a _good_ time." Tori replied back.

"Stick to angels and fairies Vega, you couldn't pull anything else off anyway." Jade spat.

"Like you could pull off anything that's not creepy and murder-y."

"I could pull it off better than you."

"You, nice? Yeah right!"

"Is that a challenge, Vega?"

"Bring it, West."

"Alright." Jade said as she pondered for a moment. "You go as Tawny from The Scissoring for Halloween-"

"And you go as something you've never been in your entire life, an angel." Tori spat back.

"Fine." "Fine." Both girls growled, staring daggers at each other.

"What's going on here?" Andre whispered to his best friend.

"I don't know, just don't get involved." Beck whispered back.

"Hey what's wrong Cat?" Robbie asked full of concern, noticing Cat staring down at her feet, deep in thought.

"What's the matter, Red? Find out Santa isn't real?" Rex, Robbie's puppet, chimed in.

"No... wait he's not real?!" Cat looked more worried than before.

"Shut that puppet up before I put you both through a woodchipper," Jade spat.

"It's her brother, he isn't doing very well. I guess that institution in Idaho isn't all it's cracked up to be" Tori informed.

"Damn that sucks, Cat. How about we all go do something after school, it'll take your mind off of it." Andre suggested. The rest of the group nodded in agreement.

"How about it Cat?" Tori asked. "Just not that Halloween store, something not as intense. How about the mall?"

"Kaykay." Cat agreed unenthusiastically.

"Awh, c'mon, cheer up!" Tori patted her on the back as the bell rang. Cat appreciated it, feeling a little better as the group headed off to their respective classes.

[…]

Jade sat in class, bored out of her mind as the teacher up front droned on and on. She put her head in her hands, quietly sighing. She already could feel herself slipping into a dream state. Her sleeping habits have been horrible lately, only staying awake in the day thanks to giant amounts of coffee.

"Psst, Jade." Tori whispered from a couple of desks away, interrupting her thought.

Jade eyes shot open, but her head stayed in her hands. Not caring about what Tori had to say at the moment, she tried ignoring her.

"Psssstt, Jaaade!" Tori whispered again, this time almost whining.

Giving in to her, Jade sat up.

"What?" Jade asked, obviously irritated.

"Geez, Jade. A little ganky today?"

"I already accepted your stupid challenge, what more do you want?" Jade asserted.

"Pushy too." Tori grinned, earning a glare from Jade. "Okay, okay, I wanted to know if you wanted to be partners."

"Partners for what?" Jade inquired, a little confused.

"The ancestry project, weren't you listening to-"

"Did you not just see me with my head in my hands?" Jade cut in, rolling her eyes. She turned to the window, looking out at the scenery of the Fall weather outside, her favorite time of the year. She scanned the outside view, looking for anything to distract her from this class.

"Anything interesting out there?" Tori, who by now had taken the seat next to Jade.

"Depends, do you find a tow truck interesting?" Jade asked sarcastically.

"Depends, what's it doing?" Tori answered innocently, missing Jade's sarcasm.

"It's just sitting there. It looks empty."

"That's weird. I wonder what happens if a tow truck parks in the wrong spot or something. What do you do? Call another tow truck? Has a tow truck ever had to tow another tow truck?" Tori quirked her eyebrow in thought. "Anyways, about this project-"

"I didn't say yes, Vega." Jade spat, cutting her off.

"You didn't say no either." Tori pointed out.

" ** _Nooooooooo_**." Jade dragged on, getting in Tori's face so she would hopefully get the message.

"Okay, Tori and Jade." The teacher called out, marking down the groups. Jade sent a harsh glare towards Tori as she smirked, unfazed by Jade's unpleasantness.

"Why do you insist on working with me anyway?"

"Well, we're friends-"

"We're not friends."

"and this could be a great way to get to know each other more." Tori continued, ignoring Jade's usual gankyness.

"No. This," she picked up the project sheet Tori set on the desk and waved it in front of her face. "is stupid."

"Well, we're partners now, so deal with it." Tori stuck out her tongue as the bell rang.

Both girls got up to leave, heading to the last class of the day. As Jade was packing up her things, she dropped a pencil that rolled over towards the window. After picking it up, she glanced out the window again, noticing the empty space where the tow truck was. Thinking nothing of it, she headed off to her next class.

 


	2. ONE EIGHT SEVEN

Jade led the way to Cat’s apartment in her Sedan, with the boys following behind in Beck’s car. The gang decided on going to the mall to, hopefully, cheer Cat up but the redhead insisted on stopping at home first. The gang pulled into the parking lot of Cat’s apartment, where she scurried out, leaving the rest of the group behind. The two girls left in the car sat in an awkward silence as they waited. Tori nervously bit her thumbnail, trying to think of something to say.

“So how you feeling?” Tori asked, breaking Jade out of her thoughts. “Since you and Beck, well you know.”

“Of course I know, Vega, since it’s my business.” Jade spat, acid dripping off every word.

“I just thought you might wanna talk about it.” Tori offered.

“Yeah, that’s what I want to do while we wait for Cat. Have a heart to heart conversation with you about my relationship that ended over a month ago.”

“Sorry, I just thought it might help you feel better...” Tori murmured.

“Just drop it.” Jade snapped before she noticed the disheartened look on Tori’s face. “I’d rather talk about how easy it is going to be for me to beat you in our challenge.” She added with a smirk.

“Not happening, West. I’m gonna be the best damn Tawny you have ever seen!” Tori boasted, perking up after Jade changed the subject.

“Holy shit, did sweet, innocent Ms. Vega just swear?” Jade questioned with fake astonishment.

“Darn right I did!” Tori continued.

“Way to ruin it, Vega.”

In the other car, Beck and Robbie were arguing about Halloween while Andre sat in the back seat, staring out the rear window.

“Dude, you up on your car payments?” Andre asked Beck, randomly.

“Um... yeah?” Beck answered awkwardly, staring off at an intersection way down the street, matching Andre's view and trying to see what Andre was seeing. Finding nothing unusual, he turned his gaze back to Andre. “You volunteering to pay next month's bill or is something else up?”

“It's, uh, it's nothing, never mind.” Andre stuttered as he blinked hard a few times, wiping his eyes, before finally removing his gaze from the street.

Beck opened his mouth, intent on continuing the conversation, but stopped when he noticed Cat was climbing into Jade's car and they were about to be left behind.

 

[…]

 

Sam sat on the couch in her and Cat's apartment. She couldn't find anything on TV and she began to wonder if she should have taken her roommate's offer to go with her friends to the mall. She didn't hate Cat's school friends by any means, but she didn't really fit in with them either. Now she wished she would have just sucked it up and gone with them. She was bored to death alone in that house until the doorbell snapped her out of her thoughts.

_Who could that be?_ She thought to herself. Cat wouldn't be back for a while and they had no scheduled babysitting jobs today. She opened the door, expecting her redheaded roommate had forgotten something, but no one was in sight.

“Hello?” She called, sticking her head out the door and looking both ways.

_That's weird,_ she thought as she sat back down on the couch. She picked up the tv remote just as the doorbell chimed again. This time she was a little quicker to the door.

“If this is some stupid prank, I am going to kill whoever is doing this!” She shouted out the doorway, once again finding no one there. She stood there for a moment, door open, waiting for the prankster or pranksters to return. With no such luck, she closed the door before making her way to the kitchen to make a snack. She opened the fridge door, grabbing all the ingredients she needed. She had just started making a sandwich when the doorbell rang for the third time. She dropped the knife on the counter and raced to the door, opening it again to find no one.

“Okay, I'm getting the Butter Sock,” Sam shouted the threat loudly, hoping to intimidate whoever was messing with her. She made her way towards her bedroom to retrieve her makeshift weapon until she suddenly froze at the patio door.

“Freddie?” She asked the masked figure standing on the other side of the glass door. “It's a little early for costumes don't you think? Are you wearing lifts?” She joked, waiting for a reply. After the awkward silence, her smile went away. “So that was you at the door? I am going to get you back waaay worse. How are you that fast?”

“Hey Sam, you shouldn’t leave your door open but don’t worry I locked it for you,” Goomer said as he walked through the front door and shut it, stopping when he saw the figure behind Sam.

“Goomer, will you tell Freddie here that-”

She turned back around as the figure slid the glass door open with one hand, snapping the lock with ease and shattering part of the glass frame. He lunged towards Sam, picking her up with one hand. She squirmed and fought, prying at the hand around her throat, trying to get free. Goomer saw this and immediately bolted towards the masked figure. The two collided, knocking Sam free from the intruder’s grasp and sending her to the ground. She yelped as she landed on her back, the back of her head bouncing off the floor. Goomer slammed the figure against a wall in the kitchen. He threw a series of body punches, all of which landed, but seemed to have no effect. He threw another punch, this time aimed at the face of the masked figure. It connected and the figure’s head snapped to the side, but just as quickly the masked man snapped his view back to Goomer. Goomer, at over six feet tall, stared down at the intruder, but couldn’t help the feeling of pure terror fill his body. Every instinct in him was telling him to run but he looked back to Sam, who was still barely responsive on the floor, clutching her head. Knowing he couldn’t leave her behind, he turned and threw a hard right hook, but the costumed man raised his own hand, catching Goomer’s fist with ease. Goomer tried to wriggle free, but his efforts weren’t enough. The figure twisted Goomer’s hand at an unnatural angle, sending bone piercing through his skin. He roared in agony as he stumbled back into the living room, tripping on the carpet and landing on his back. The figure advanced on him slowly, grabbing a knife off of the kitchen counter on his way there.

Sam, still dazed on the floor, looked up to see the masked assailant move towards the center of the room, where Goomer was writhing in pain. The couch now blocked her view of what was happening in front of her, but she was able to see the arm of the figure raise up above the couch. She laid helpless as she witnessed the knife thrash down, over and over again, blood splattering up to the ceiling from the repeated motion. Her stomach churned as she heard the knife clank to the floor, knowing she was next. She heard more glass shatter, and a piece of whatever was broken landed near her leg. She groaned as she reached for it, barely grabbing it before the killer turned his sights towards her. The masked intruder walked over to her, picking her up off the ground with one hand easily as she struggled.

“Please, please...-j-just let me go.” Sam pleaded as she clawed at the figure's hand, but it was no use. The grip around her throat was locked in, and she could feel herself fading. She unveiled the shard of glass and drove it into the killer’s neck. The figure recoiled as he released her, his hand grabbing at the glass. Sam used this time to make a bolt for the door. She fumbled with the doorknob, not realizing it was locked, giving the killer enough to recover. He grabbed her by the neck and slammed her face first against the door. She screamed in anguish as her nose started to bleed and a metallic taste filled her mouth. The killer had Sam in his grasp once again. She spat in his face, a dark red splotch landing on his mask. The killer intensified his grip as Sam squirmed and kicked, desperate for air. A second later a loud crack echoed throughout the room, and Sam's legs dangled lifelessly. The man released his grip and the body landed on the floor with a sickening thud. Silence filled the air as the killer stood in the middle of the room with a tilted head, observing the damage inflicted.

 

[…]

 

“I need to speak with whoever is in charge here.” The sheriff exclaimed to the officer behind the desk of the police station he had just walked into, who seemed like he wasn't sure if the man in front of him was serious or not. “Now!”

“Just calm down for one second, uh, officer...?”

“Sheriff. Sheriff Thomas Doyle from the Haddonfield Sheriff’s Department. Now please, let me speak to whoever is in charge.” He pleaded.

“Haddonfield?”

“Illinois. Now please-”

“Sorry sheriff, your jurisdiction is at least a couple thousand miles that way. If you need anything we'd be happy to help, just sit down and fill this out and we'll be sure to-”

“Death is in this town and if I don’t do something lives will be lost! This. Is. Urgent.” His voice went to a harsh whisper.

“Alright, alright, come with me… sheriff,” The officer said before leading him through the station to the back office, figuring this was above his pay grade anyway.

“This is Captain Steel, he runs things around here.” The officer introduced him to a busied man that was roaming around his office, hastily collecting various documents. The desk officer went back to his post, leaving Sheriff Doyle with the captain.

“Sir, I'm Sheriff Doyle from Haddonfield, Illinois. I have to-”

“Listen, I'm going to stop you right there. I have some very important matters that have to be attended to. Then I'm all booked up after that.” Captain Steel said, already heading for the door.

“But, sir, you have to listen to me, if we don't do something people are going-”

“I'll tell you what,” Captain Steel cut him off again. “I will leave you in the capable hands of one of my detectives, they'll be able to help with whatever you need.” Captain Steel looked past the sheriff into the room behind him, scanning for the closest detective.

“Detective Vega, a moment?” Captain Steel called to the man as he walked by the doorway.

“Yes, sir?”

“Would you please take care of this?” Detective Vega nodded. “His desk is right there, he'll help. Vega, walk with me to the exit would you?” Sheriff Doyle tried one last time to get a word in, but Captain Steel had scurried out with the detective before he could do anything. He sighed, taking a seat at the detective's desk.

“Okay, just listen to the guy, then send him on his way. I don't know what he wants, but we don't have time for this. Halloween is in two days and we are not even remotely fucking close to being ready. The brass is already hounding us to step it up, and with no extra bodies for patrols that will already be hard enough.” He commanded.

“You got it.” Detective Vega promised before he made his way back to his desk. “Hello, I'm Detective Vega, what can I help you with?”

“I'm Sheriff Doyle. From Haddonfield. I am here because of...Michael Myers.” The deputy whispered the last part.

“What about him?” The detective asked, picking up his coffee from the desk.

“You know of him?" Sheriff Doyle seemed surprised.

"I've read about him. Enough to recognize the name, maybe a few details, but it’s been awhile." Detective Vega informed before bringing his mug up to his lips.

“He is here detective. In this city.” Sheriff Doyle revealed, causing the detective to choke on his coffee.

“Okay, okay, wait. I don't think we are on the same page here.” Detective Vega muttered between coughs. “You aren't talking about the serial killer from seventy-eight, are you? Because as far as I know, he died that night in a hospital explosion." The detective questioned, obviously stunned.

“That isn't the whole story, but all you need to know is he is here. And more people are going to die if we don't act fast!”

“Is this some kind of early Halloween prank? Am I on camera right now? Johnson, did you set this up?” One of the officers sitting at a desk across from them turned around, before shaking his head and shrugging.

“This isn't a joke detective!” The sheriff slammed his fist down on the desk.

The detective could see the seriousness on the face of the sheriff but still was not convinced.

“You want me to believe a serial killer from the seventies decided to turn up decades later to what? Randomly go on a spree here in California?”

“He already has once before!” Sheriff Doyle argued, whispering so he didn’t draw too much attention.

“They're calling for you. New case down in Venice, brutal as fuck.” Another officer interrupted before Detective Vega could ask questions.

Sheriff Doyle shot him a knowing look but Detective Vega tried to shrug it off as he headed for the exit, only to be followed closely by the sheriff.

“No.” Detective Vega denied as he reached across his car to close his passenger side car door that Sheriff Doyle had opened.

“It’s starting again, and if I’m right you are going to need all the help you can get!” The sheriff warned, getting into the vehicle anyway.

“Fine. But you don’t leave this car unless I say so. And this doesn’t mean I believe your bullshit story either.” Detective Vega barked as he started the car. “I just hope to God you are wrong.”

“You and me both detective.”

The case information came over the radio and they set off for the crime scene.

“So, who were the others?” The detective interrupted the silence that filled the car as they drove.

“What?”

“Back at the station… you said more people will die, who already did? If you don't mind me asking.”

“It happened back in Haddenfield. My chief deputy and a newcomer, who hadn't even been on patrol six months. Then I picked up the trail at a diner outside of town. Thankfully it was a slow day. No customers but a waitress, a chef and a mechanic were found dead. If that diner had been busy, it could have been much worse.”

“Sorry for your losses,” Detective Vega said sincerely.

“Thank you detective, but let’s just hope the losses end there.” Sheriff Doyle said solemnly as the car returned to silence.


	3. Broken

"Stay here, let me handle this." Detective Vega ordered as he left the sheriff in the car. He walked through the apartment courtyard, noticing that the apartment wasn't one building, but a set of multiple smaller complexes.

"What do we got Gary?" Detective Vega asked the officer, and his best friend, standing in front of the door marked '22'.

"Two vics, savagely murdered. Brace yourself." Gary warned as both entered the apartment.

"Jesus..." Detective Vega muttered as he surveyed the scene. The amount of blood was staggering, it overwhelmed the room with a metallic stench. The apartment was completely ransacked, leading detective Vega to believe it was a robbery gone bad.

"It started over here." The officer led detective Vega over to the shattered patio door.

Detective Vega walked out onto the patio and looked around, noticing an alley that led around the corner. "Where does this go?"

"The alley leads to the courtyard. From there it's either back to the parking lot or more apartments."

"Any security back there?"

"Just a fence to keep in small pets. Nothing major. Easy to slip back here from the street without being noticed."

"What did they do to the door, take a hammer to it?" Detective Vega asked, inspecting what was left of the lock.

"We found no burglary tools. The strange thing is what we did find. Fingerprints, on the lock and the murder weapon, running them through the system ASAP." The tech inspecting the door said.

"You think someone did this with their bare hands?" Detective Vega inquired.

"Hey, crazier things have happened." Gary shrugged, then continued as they both re-entered the house. "From here, we have victim number one. Male. Looks to be around mid-twenties. Multiple, and I mean  _multiple,_ stab wounds. Lost count around fifteen. Hard to tell when the wounds start to overlap."

"Probably a boxer or some kind of MMA fighter, he's trained, that's for sure. He has calluses, probably from lifting weights, and see here? Fresh scrapes and bruises on the knuckles, he fought back. Not to mention the broken wrist. Probably got caught throwing punches." Detective Vega put the sheet back over the body and walked around the couch to the other victim.

"Victim two. Blonde female, late teens. Strangled, throat completely crushed. She gave the bastard a fight though, we have DNA under her fingernails and look at this." Gary walked a few steps to a small pile of blood with glass in the center of it. "How much you wanna bet that that's the killer's blood."

"Hmm," Detective Vega studied the body a bit more closely, "small cuts on her hand and no other cuts that I can see, so she most likely got these from picking up the glass and using it as a weapon. So yeah, good chance that's our killer's blood. She didn't have a chance though, especially considering the damage done to the male vic." Detective Vega covered the body back up and turned towards his former partner. "What about witnesses? Anybody hear anything?"

"Did a sweep before you got here. The tenants across aren't answering. On the left we have a guy, lives alone, was at work the whole day. On the right is an old lady, she made the call after taking her dog for a walk and noticing the mess through a window. No help as a witness though, she didn't see anything and couldn't hear a damn monster truck drive through her own living room. Barely heard me when I was right in front of her." Gary replied.

"Damn it. Do we have the names of our victims yet?"

"Neither had a wallet on them and their phones are locked. We are searching for anything to identify them in the house, but as you can see it's a goddamn mess. We also have an officer looking for the landlord."

"Anything else?" Detective Vega asked.

"Uhhh, let's see." Officer Gary flipped through his notepad. "Oh! One last thing. It's right over here." Gary walked to a turned over table, with a bunch of picture frames on the floor around it. "We have a bunch of pictures on the floor here."

"They got knocked over in the struggle, so what?"

"Just take a look." He instructed, pointing to a frame in particular.

Detective Vega picked up the picture frame Gary was talking about. It had a light purple frame and read 'MY BESTEST FRIENDS' on the top. The glass was shattered and whatever picture that was in it was gone.

"Think this was more than a burglary? Something more personal?" Officer Gary asked.

"Can't be too sure yet. Give me a moment?" Detective Vega excused himself to a quieter location, going over everything in his head, getting lost in thought.

[...]

Sheriff Doyle fidgeted with the edge of his coat, resisting the urge to go inspect the crime scene with Detective Vega. He knew if it was actually Michael's doing, it would be apparent soon enough. If it wasn't Michael, going in there would only complicate the case if the police caught the actual murderer. He also didn't want to defy an order from his only contact within the LAPD, he had a feeling he'd need the backup later. For now, he found himself watching the streets, his eyes finding a Halloween store across the street from the other side of the near empty parking lot. He sat for some time, just observing the different types of people going in and out of the store, preparing for Halloween. He remembered when Halloween was actually a fun time for him, and a small smile spread across the sheriff's face as he thought back to his childhood. To Jack-O-Lanterns and trick or treating, before he figured out that the boogeyman was real. His face suddenly drained of color and the smile was wiped away as he snapped out of his thoughts. He was frozen, stuck staring at the figure standing across the street.

_Michael._

The figure stood in front of the Halloween store, staring directly at the sheriff, bystanders walking by unfazed. Sheriff Doyle reached into his pocket while he studied the masked figure. He held a bloody kitchen knife in his hand, with blood splatter covering almost every inch of his mechanic overalls. The sheriff swallowed hard, the pills scratching his throat on the way down. He closed his eyes and counted to ten, hoping the figure was in his head. His eyes shot open and he was shocked to see the serial killer taking strides towards him. Michael had crossed the street already and was halfway through the parking lot. He reached for his Colt Python revolver and held it at his side, just under the car window. He closed his eyes again and counted to ten one last time. He took a deep breath, then opened them to see an innocent redhead peeking into the car, almost giving him a heart attack.

"Hiiii!" The bubbly girl waved at him through the window.

He gazed past her, seeing no trace of the figure he was looking for. He exhaled heavily, waving back at the girl while secretly holstering his weapon. He stepped outside, hoping the fresh air would calm him down.

"Are you a Mountie?" The petite redhead asked.

Sheriff Doyle stared at the young girl, unsure if she was mocking him or actually being serious until he saw the innocent expression on her face. "I'm a sheriff, from out of town." He explained.

"Oooo a sheriff! Where is your cool hat? Can I wear it?" She bounced around happily.

"Cat, do you mind if I use your bathroom?" Tori asked as she joined the conversation.

"No, go ahead." Cat handed Tori her key. "He's going to let me try on his Sheriff's hat!" Cat exclaimed to Tori's delight, who was happy that their outing cheered Cat up. Tori looked over to the sheriff, who had no idea what to think.

"Don't worry sir, she's harmless," she half-joked. He weakly chuckled and proceeded to hand the redhead his hat to try on. Tori noticed his timidness, though brushed it off thinking he was preoccupied with his current cases since her dad is the same way whenever he was in the middle of work. She shrugged and headed off towards Cat's apartment as the redhead started talking the ear off of the sheriff.

"Dad?" Tori stood behind the yellow police tape, shocked to see her dad talking to another officer outside Cat's apartment door.

"Tori? What are you doing here?" Her father rushed under the police tape and tried to usher her away from the apartment, but Tori shook him off.

"This is Cat's apartment. I've been hanging out with her and some of my other friends. What happened? Is everything okay? Sam's not in there right? She was home when we dropped by earlier." Tori asked, a bad feeling brewing in her stomach.

"Sam? Blonde, around your age?" Detective Vega asked.

"Yeah, she's Cat's roommate," Tori answered, confirming the victim's identity.

"Tori, where is Cat right now?"

"Hey Tori, I thought you had to pee!" Cat giggled as she approached Tori.

"Hey Cat," Detective Vega greeted his daughter's friend.

"Hi Mr. Vega!" the redhead cheered. Her smile quickly went away as she quickly surveyed the environment. "Wha-what's going on?"

"Cat, I'm glad you're okay. I'm afraid there has been a break-in at your apartment."

"But I locked the door before I le-" her eyes widened immediately. "Wh-where's Sam? Is she alr-?" Cat trembled slightly, unable to finish her question.

"I'm sorry, they must have been home when the suspect broke in."

"They?" Cat repeated, failing to comprehend the situation.

"Who else was here?" Tori asked her father.

"Your friend Sam and someone by the name of Goomer."

"Goomer?!" Cat exclaimed, just as horrified and concerned for him.

"Dad," Tori spoke up, horrified as she started to piece together what was going on. "You aren't saying…"

"No! No! No! This can't- But we were just talking- It just doesn't make sen- No!" Cat muttered, a hundred thoughts rushing through her mind, yet she couldn't muster the courage to say it aloud.

"I'm sorry, Cat," Detective Vega sighed. This was a tough part of his job, relaying bad news. Even worse when he knew the people involved. "Is there anybody I can call for Sam or Goomer? Would you like me to call your parents?" Detective Vega offered.

"No!" Cat blurted out, trying to push past detective Vega and Tori. "I need to talk to Sam! We have to start carving the pumpkins tonight."

"Cat, you don't want to go in there." Detective Vega assured, holding on to Cat to prevent her from getting past him.

"Get off of me!" Cat seethed, squirming to get out of the detective's grasp. Tori stepped towards them, unsure what to do. Her father gave her a nod, signaling that he could handle it. "I have to talk to her! I have to!" Cat demanded, flailing her hands at detective Vega who in return grabbed her by the wrists. The redhead stopped fighting, collapsing into the detective's chest with a loud sob.

"She can't be- she can't... No!" Cat wailed, still clinging onto detective Vega.

"It just… it just doesn't make any sense…" Tori said, tearfully, comforting Cat as best she could.

"Detective Vega, a moment?" Sheriff Doyle added himself to the group. Tori shuffled over, taking the distraught redhead into her own arms.

"See if there is someone we can call for her," he told his daughter. "I'll be right back."

Detective Vega escorted the sheriff to a different area of the apartments, away from the crime scene.

"What did you see in there?" Sheriff Doyle questioned.

"Nothing too out of the ordinary. Looks like a home invasion, probably a burglary gone bad." Detective Vega tried to lie.

"Nice try, detective. But I can see it on your face." Sheriff Doyle frowned. "He's here."

"Not this shit again. You honestly believe that  _Michael Myers_  is here in L.A. and killed those two in there?"

"I wish I didn't, but I do. Call it a feeling, but I know that….  _evil_  is here detective, and I think some part of you does as well, otherwise you would have kicked me out of the station the second I suggested something so asinine."

"Maybe I do, as crazy as I sound saying that. But if he is here, some things don't add up. For starters, what about him being  **dead?** "

"I will tell you everything, but right now I need your help." The sheriff started to whisper. "The file, the whole Myers file, is in my car back at the station. It had an address on it, but most of it is now illegible. I need your help deciphering what's left of the address tag, maybe you can recognize or piece it together with something from the area. It should lead to Myers' relative, she's been in contact with my department before, but I have no way of contacting her. Her family is in grave danger, we have to find her before it's too late!" The sheriff exclaimed, getting a bit hysterical.

"Alright, alright! Just let me finish up here and I'll meet you at the station. I'll have a uni take you back there for now."

Sheriff Doyle opened his mouth to protest before thinking better of it. Besides, this way gave him time to conduct his own investigation. Detective Vega returned to both girls on the ground outside the apartment, Cat crying her eyes out while Tori tried her best to comfort the poor girl.

"Did she say who we can call for her?"

"Her parents are in Idaho and her grandma is vacationing in Florida with her elderly group," Tori informed her father as he crouched down beside them.

"Cat, would you be okay with staying with us for awhile? At least until we get a hold of someone for you?" Detective Vega asked, Cat nodding weakly in return. "Take her to the house, I'll be there as soon as I can." Detective Vega instructed before he escorted them away and towards the parking lot, none of them noticing the shadowy figure across the courtyard.

"Come on, Cat. You'll be safe with me and Jade and the guys," Tori assured her friend as she helped her into the car.

"Vega, what the hell?" Jade spat as Tori and Cat settled into the backseat. "Not only do you make me sit here waiting for you to pee while everyone left, but you also made Cat  _cry?!_ "

"Not the time Jade." Tori snapped back quickly.

"Oh shit." Jade blurted out, now taking it seriously after noticing Cat still sniffling into Tori's shoulder. "What happened?"

"I'll tell you later, just take us to my house please?"

[...]

The sheriff sat in his squad car thumbing through the Myers file, thankful most of it was still intact, with only a few pages unreadable due to the blood. Finding what he was looking for, he pulled out his phone and made a call back to Haddonfield. Soon after he arrived at his destination, a seemingly random street, still in Los Angeles. He stepped out of his car and headed towards the payphone he had tracked. He walked up to the stand, examining it. He was hoping to find anything that could help him identify the elusive Myers relative. Instead, all he found was useless graffiti and old gum. Sheriff Doyle investigated the surrounding area, seeing only a coffee shop and a preschool as landmarks that stood out. Disappointed, he returned to his squad car.


	4. The Shape Stalks

Jade pulled into the Vega's driveway as the sun was setting in the horizon. She shut the car off and turned to the backseat, looking at Tori for their next move. Tori shifted her shoulder slightly, trying to wake up Cat, who had tired herself out from crying.

"Caaat," Tori whispered, shaking the sleeping redhead gently. "We're here."

Cat's eyes slowly fluttered open. Her head ached and her throat was sore.

"Please tell me it was all a bad dream…" Cat mumbled, wiping away at her eyes. An awkward silence fell over the girls, neither Jade nor Tori knowing how to answer that. Tori was first to climb out of the car, helping the lethargic Cat along with her, as Jade followed them into the house.

The girls entered the Vega house, their ears immediately assaulted. Not only was the TV volume blasting, Tori's sister sat at the piano the Vega's had in their living room, playing a horrible tune and singing even worse. Mrs. Vega was nearby in the kitchen with her own headphones in, singing her own tune, oblivious to what was going on around her.

"Trina!" Tori flapped her arms hoping to get her older sister's attention. Trina was immersed in her music, she belched a half-toned melody, her sister's call going unnoticed.

"My god Vega, make it stop," Jade yelled irritably, dragging Cat toward the couch to take a seat.

"Triiiiina!" The younger Vega exclaimed, this time shaking her sister.

"OWW! Tori, I was just getting into my jam!" Trina barked at the interruption.

"Why are you trying to play the piano, trying to sing, AND watching tv at the same time?!" Tori questioned, stepping in front of her sister's view of the TV.

"I'm practicing my harmony, duh! And get out of the way! This is tonight's new episode of 'Hot or Not!". Trina scoffed. "Emma has narrowed it down to Ryan or Chad, and she's  _actually_  thinking about Ryan. Which would never work, Ryan is such a-"

"No one cares!" Jade spat from the couch, already switching channels.

"Hey, I was watching that!"

"Go watch in your room, we have some work to do down here," Tori said, trying to get rid of her sister.

"Ugh. So rude." Trina stood up defiantly, before seeing she was outnumbered. "Guess who is out of the running to be my assistant when I get discovered!" She added before stomping up the stairs.

"Sorry about that." Tori turned around as she spoke to both girls. "Do you guys want anything to drink?"

"Do you have any aspirin? My head hurts." Cat groaned, rubbing her temples.

"Yeah of course, in the medicine cabinet upstairs." Tori told her, before turning to Jade, "See if you can get a hold of the boys, they'll probably want to be here once we catch them up with everything." Tori continued, then followed the redhead upstairs.

Jade reached for her phone, intent on calling Andre before seeing a missed call and a voicemail from Margaret. She hovered over the delete button before hesitating, like she was forgetting something important, but deleted it anyway just out of spite. She hated that woman, and for good reason. She roped her father into a sham of a marriage with a pregnancy, just to get to his money. Margaret may have her father fooled but Jade knows what the woman really is, a dumb wannabe trophy wife that does the whole 'play mom' routine to her and Carter when it's convenient to her and ignores them whenever it isn't.

"She's asleep again," Tori announced as she descended the stairs, interrupting Jade's thoughts. "Did you get a hold of them?"

"No, I got distracted."

"Distracted?" Tori cocked an eyebrow, intrigued. "By what?" She asked, taking a seat next to Jade on the couch.

Jade looked down at her phone, avoiding Tori's gaze. She wasn't sure if she wanted to talk about it. "Just…." She exhaled heavily, unable to find the words. "So you wanna fill me in now?" Jade said, changing the subject.

"Cat's apartment was broken into-"

"That sucks." Jade cut in.

"It gets worse. The burglar ended up killing her roommate and someone named Goomer."

"Holy shit, that's heavy. Do they know who did it?" Jade commented, shifting her position on the couch slightly.

"I don't think so, my dad has been gone all day. Probably still at the scene or out looking." Tori guessed, walking to the kitchen before going to grab two bottles of water out of the fridge. When she returned, Jade was staring daggers at her phone. "Problem?" She questioned, handing Jade a bottle.

"My dad. He's 'ordering' me home. The step-monster probably bitched to him about me ignoring her call."

"You have to leave already?" Tori's shoulders slouched as her body filled with disappointment.

"I'll be back later to work on our-."

"Tonight? Seems like your dad is mad, what if you get grounded?" Tori asked, setting her water down on the table.

"Then I'll sneak out, who cares." Jade shrugged, slinging her bag over her shoulder as she stood up.

"What if it's too late?" Tori asked again, testing Jade's patience.

"Then I'll just sleepover," Jade replied.

"On a school night?"

"Jesus Vega, you really are a goody two shoes."

"Am not!" Tori cried, standing up as well.

"Any other questions?" Jade said sarcastically, earning a glare from Tori. "As I was saying, we  _do_ need to start our ancestry project. Who knows what kinda grade we'd get if I'm not there to correct all your mistakes." Jade teased the brunette as she stepped out into the fresh air, ignoring the phone call that was causing her phone to vibrate. She could guess who was calling, and she didn't feel like dealing with it right now. "Thanks for the water. And thanks for being there for Cat, or whatever." She added, turning to face Tori after removing the battery from her phone.

"Yeah, no problem," Tori responded, now talking to Jade through her car window.

"I  _guess_  you were the next best thing since you left me in the car that whole time."

"There it is." Tori rolled her eyes as Jade started her car. "Do you always have to follow up saying something semi-nice with an insult or a backhanded compliment?"

Jade smirked as she backed out of the driveway, Tori waving goodbye. Just after Jade left, detective Vega pulled into the driveway.

"Hey, Dad." Tori greeted, leaning against the open window of her father's car.

"Hey, kiddo. How are you holding up?"

"I've been better, but it could be worse though I guess. I know it's a tragedy, but I didn't really know either of them. It's just awful to see Cat like that, can't imagine what she's going through."

"I know it seems bad now," Detective Vega tried his best to be comforting as he stepped out of his car. "But it gets better, it might not seem like it now, but it does. She'll heal over time, all you can do is be there for her."

"Thanks, daddy." Tori hugged him, noticing another car pulling up to the house. "Hey isn't that the sheriff guy that was at Cat's apartment earlier?" She noted as the man hustled out of his car.

Detective Vega turned around to see the sheriff making his way up to his house. "Sheriff Doyle, wasn't expecting you so soon. Or at my house...at all." Detective Vega noted, shooting daggers at the sheriff. "This is one of my daughters, Tori. Tori, this is Sheriff Doyle."

"Hello, sir," Tori greeted as she observed the older man. His short, brown hair was swept off to the side. A hint of grey starting to show on his head and in his short, scruffy beard. She guessed he was around her father's age, but he had shown a great bit more deal of stress. The evidence being the harsher wrinkles under his eyes, and his browns eyes themselves showed signs of tension and worry.

"Tori why don't you head on in, we have some matters to discuss." Detective Vega turned his attention to the sheriff once his daughter was inside. "What the hell are you doing at my house?"

"You know this is time sensitive detective. We have to hurry." The sheriff pleaded, heading back towards his car.

"How did you even find-" Detective Vega's hand shot up to the bridge of his nose as he shook his head. "I guess it doesn't matter, just let me see the damn file then." The detective added, following the sheriff to his vehicle and getting into the passenger seat.

"These personal accounts read like horror stories," the detective noted after taking a moment to read through some of the police reports in the massive folder.

"And those are only from the first night. But take a look at the label. Does anything seem familiar?" Sheriff Doyle asked, hoping the detective could offer something of use.

"I can make out an H and an A in the name, and no numbers in the address, wait. Maybe a three? Or is that an eight? And what I can make out of the name just says 'oc-u-pa-', so I can only assume that used to say 'occupant'. The location does say Los Angeles, C.A. Now  _that_  does ring a bell."

"Don't be a smart ass," The sheriff retorted.

"Well damn, I don't know! What has the initials H.A.? Home Address? Hospital Admission? Hell's Angels, they've been making some noise recently." Something clicked in the detective's head. "Wait, if this is your file, why don't you know where this was going? Did you not postmark this yourself?" Detective Vega asked, turning to the sheriff.

"No. I didn't feel well that morning and wasn't in the office. My chief deputy took the call and as you know we can't ask him."

"My apologies, I didn't mean to-." The sheriff waved him off, and detective Vega continued. "What do you know about this mysterious Myers relative then?" The detective inquired.

"Not much, just that the pay phone number she always called from is in Loomis' notes."

"Loomis? That name sounds familiar," Detective Vega said, trying to make the connection in his head.

"Michael's doctor. Michael was only six years old when he killed his older sister and was committed to Smith's Grove Sanitarium in the care of Loomis."

"Loomis...Loomis." The detective repeated slowly, thinking back to a second ago. He fanned through the file again, finding what he was looking for. 'Loomis' notes', the section that made up the bulk of the file. It contained theories and hypotheses on his patient, Michael Myers, as well as Loomis' personal diagnoses from his sessions with Michael as a kid, and much, much more. It intrigued the detective greatly and he hoped he would have time later to explore the file more thoroughly.

"Don't bother, it was written on a ripped out piece of paper and taped to the inside of one of the pages." Sheriff Doyle informed to the disappointment of the detective.

"Okay then, what about this Dr. Loomis? What happened to him?" Detective Vega asked.

"He's dead," the sheriff revealed with a pained expression on his face.

"Oh, I'm sorry to hear that. Was it…"

"Michael? No. That old man tried to help him as a kid for fifteen years, then after he escaped he tried stopping him for another eighteen. He died in ninety-six from a heart attack." The sheriff divulged, remembering the courageous doctor fondly.

"Must have taken a lot out of him, both physically and mentally." The detective noted, praying he wouldn't ever have to find out what it was like to go through something like that. "So how did Loomis know this woman?"

"I'm not sure. All I know is she called the station one day, asking for him and I had to break the news to her. Then she started calling the station periodically, sometimes months in between, asking me if there had been any news on the Myers' case. I didn't trust her at first, but Loomis had to have kept that number for a reason. Then two days ago, she said she needed the Myers file for something. When I asked, all she said that was she needed to look out for her family. I figured if there is some poor family still out there related to that son of a bitch, they have a right to know everything that happened."

"What about where she was calling from? Did you track the number?"

"Yeah I checked out the payphone before I came here, I didn't find anything out of the ordinary."

"Well then... what's our next move?" The detective asked, both men thinking for a moment.

"He got here a half a day before I did, we might have missed other victims. We should start checking homicides that came in right before I got here, maybe we can find a pattern."

"That sounds like a waste of time." The detective argued.

"Do you have a better idea?" Sheriff Doyle asked, not receiving anything in response.

[...]

"Ma'am, I don't mean to bother you, but I have to inform you that we close in about two minutes."

"Well, that does bother me," Jade responded, before continuing. "Whose stupid idea is it to close so early?"

"It's company policy… all of our stores close at the same time." The barista replied, earning a glare from Jade. She flinched, hastily returning to her counter and away from the scary goth. Jade closed her laptop in frustration. She didn't feel like heading home yet, and she was finally making good progress on a play she was writing for school. She stood up to leave, but not before scaring the barista one more time as she ordered a cup of coffee to go. She stepped out of the store and into the cool breeze, hoping that the fresh air would settle her sour mood. Jade glared at the barista again, who followed her to the door, locking it immediately before scurrying away again. Jade turned back towards the parking lot, wondering why she chose to park so far away. She set out for her car, noticing that the streets surrounding her were eerily deserted, especially for an L.A. night. Her black combat boots slapped the pavement as she strode across it, echoing around her. She listened to the noise her steps made, the beat calming her. She stopped suddenly, unsure if that was another pair of footsteps she heard. Her eyes darted around her, sweeping the area. Seeing no one else near, she picked up her pace, finally reaching her car safely. She swiftly dug out her keys and used the remote to unlock her car. Her vehicle's lights flashed in response, lighting up the darkness behind her car for only a split second. The goth froze, unsure of what she saw out of the corner of her eye.

"I don't have shit, so back off," Jade warned, figuring if someone was lurking back there it was either a mugger or a homeless person. She squinted, almost being able to make out an outline of someone standing back there. She felt the hair stand up on the back of her neck as she raised her car remote, not exactly sure if she wanted to press the button again.

"Excuse me, miss!" The barista from earlier interrupted, nearly causing Jade to jump out of her skin. "You left this." She added, handing Jade her laptop cover.

"T-thanks." Jade stuttered, taking her lost item, trying to regain some of her composure.

"Is everything okay?" The barista asked, concerned from Jade's sudden change in character. Jade nodded, hitting a button on her car remote, causing her car to light up the darkness, finding nothing there. The goth visibly relaxed, earning a weird look from the barista before she returned to the shop. Jade hopped into her car, her hands rubbing her eyes.

_Lack of good sleep is making me lose my damn mind,_  she thought to herself. She shook it off, now holding her phone in her hand, thinking about turning it back on. She decided against it, figuring she would deal with her dad when she got home. She sighed, knowing that she couldn't delay the inevitable any longer. She zoomed out of the parking lot of her favorite coffee shop and headed for home. Making it to a stoplight, she reached out to unmute her radio.

"Damn it, Tori!" Jade muttered as bubbly pop music blared through her speakers. Her hands fumbled, pushing different buttons and trying to undo whatever Tori did to her radio. Jade exhaled as her usual station cut through the static. Her peaceful state, however, did not last long.

"Watch it asshole," Jade growled to herself as she adjusted her rear-view mirror, directing the warning at a rickety old tow truck that was way too close to her bumper. She moved her car up a bit, putting a bit of space between her new car and the piece of junk behind her. To her disbelief, the truck slowly pulled up to her bumper again. Jade silently fumed, debating her next move. The stoplight made it for her as it turned green. She slammed on the gas, leaving the truck in her dust. She cackled loudly, taking a celebratory gulp of her coffee. The large drink blocked her view of the upcoming intersection, where an SUV was barreling down the road, ignoring the red light it had. A deafening horn interrupted Jade's drink, and she noticed in time to swerve across the road, narrowly avoiding the collision. The reflexive jolt caused her to drop her drink and spill what was left of her coffee all over herself as the cup fell to the floor.

Jade frantically continued, finally coming to a halt at a stop sign and taking a deep breath. Her hands covered her chest as she breathed, hoping it would calm her trembling hands and racing heart. She laughed a bit, fully realizing what happened, and how close she came to being seriously injured or worse. Finally settling a bit, she reached for the cup that landed under her seat, placing it in the cup holder. In her rear-view mirror, bright lights flashed as the tow truck once again rode up to her bumper. She readied herself to start driving again when a loud noise startled her. The truck behind her was revving its engine, the driver seemingly taunting her. She gritted her teeth, contemplating getting out and giving this dickhead a taste of her steel reinforced scissors. Jade surveyed her surroundings, looking to see if there would be any witnesses to her scissor attack. She ultimately decided against it, remembering what Tori said about her 'never being an angel'. She decided to try to be a little nice, so instead of filleting this driver in an act of road rage, she revved her engine back at the truck, hoping to piss the driver off. Jade paused, waiting for the perfect moment. Seeing no other cars around this time, she peeled out, leaving actual smoke and the smell of burnt rubber behind this time. Her victory quickly turned to defeat as red and blue lights filled the space around her. She angrily dug out her wallet and turned to the window, waiting for the cop. She was just in time to watch as the tow truck passed her, the inside too dark for her to make out anything but a shadowy figure in the driving seat that she could have sworn was staring right at her.

"License and registration." The cop tapped on the window, snapping Jade out of her trance.

"Shit, sorry. Here." Jade replied as she rolled down her window. "Hey, weren't you Tori Vega's dad's partner?" She asked, noticing after getting a good look at the officer.

"That's right, Officer Gary Higgins," The officer responded. "You go to that fancy school with his daughters? You must be one of Tori's friends right?"

"Ehh," Jade said half-heartedly.

"Trina's?" Officer Gary asked again, this time in disbelief.

"God, no."

"Well, that was quite the show you put on back there, Ms. West. Any particular reason for it?" Officer Gary questioned as he handed her back her license.

"I was practicing for the new play at my fancy school?" Jade replied, trying her best not to smirk.

"Funny," The officer responded, his serious demeanor unchanged. "I could write you up for that, but since you're Tori's friend I'll let you off with a warning. Just this once. Now get home safely and no more drag racing." He ordered, before returning to his vehicle.

Not too long after, Jade pulled into her family's garage, noticing her father's car was gone.

"Hellooo!?" Jade yelled as she entered her house. "Dad? C'mon, lets get this over with." Jade wandered into the kitchen, seeing a note on the counter.

"Check your voicemail, you brat," she read out loud before ripping the note into pieces, tossing them into the air. She huffed as she stomped up the stairs, ready to destroy anyone in her way. She stormed into her father's room, hoping to find  _her._  Instead, she found no one, so she reversed direction, figuring her stepmother was annoying her younger brother. She burst into Carter's room, ready for a battle.

"Carter be ready to duck because this is about to..." She trailed off, noticing she was speaking to an empty room. She whipped out her phone, growing more annoyed by the second. She clicked the most recent voicemail and put it on speaker.

" _Jadelyn,"_ Jade cringed at her full first name, Margaret knew how to push her step daughter's buttons.  _Your father and I have been trying to get a hold of you for hours now. You probably forgot that your father is taking me on a beautiful cruise, even though we have reminded you numerous times. I know we said Carter could stay with you, but considering your behavior recently, we decided he should come with us. We couldn't even reach you all day today, how could we trust you to babysit? No wonder that nice boy broke up with you, you are selfish and unreliable. Maybe this time alone will help you see that, and you can try to be a better person. I would be happy to help my daughter bloom into a mature young woman. For now, we left you an envelope on the fridge, it has more than enough cash for necessities and the emergency number to reach us. Start by being responsible with that money, and we'll go from there when we get back. See you in around a week. Ciao for now._

Jade furiously deleted the message, every button pushed nearly breaking her phone's touchscreen. She honestly did forget they were leaving for the cruise today, but it's not like today was an ordinary day. Her best friend's roommate and her friend were murdered for fuck's sake. It's not like it was some romantic getaway cruise anyway, Margaret nagged her father for weeks before he finally caved. She was, however, looking forward to spending some time with her younger brother. Even though he was technically her step-brother, Carter was the best thing that came from that unholy marriage and Jade was adamant in protecting him from that monster of a mother. She could handle all the bullshit, but it pissed her off to no end that Carter was always dragged into it. She retreated to her room, realizing that she couldn't do anything about it now.

After changing out of her coffee stained clothes, Jade, equipped with everything she needed for her night at Vega's, once again set out into the night in her car. Down the street, headlights flashed on after the goth's sedan turned the corner. The vehicle sputtered to life before speeding off and taking the same turn.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for the 'kudos', I'm glad people like this! Slowly but surely catching up, thanks for reading!


	5. Mr. Taylor's Demise

"Why are you acting so weird?" Trina barked she watched her sister speed around the living room, before grabbing the bowl of popcorn Tori just set down and propping her feet up.

"Not for you!" Tori scolded, snatching the bowl back. She swatted Trina's feet away in disgust, putting the bowl back on the table. "Jade's coming over." She added.

"Oooh, I get it."

"Get what?" Tori stopped in her tracks, turning towards her sister with a skeptical look.

"Why you're freaking out like this."

"I am  _not_ freaking out-" Tori tried to defend herself, before being interrupted by the doorbell ringing. "Jade's here!" She squealed as she hurried to the door.

"Why is she even coming over so late?" Her sister asked.

"For a school project. Now can you please leave?!"

"Second time today I'm ordered around in my own house," Trina complained, heading for the stairs.

"Jade and Cat are sleeping over, so try not to hog the bathroom in the morning okay?" Tori pleaded, before going to answer the door.

"Nope. My house. My bathroom time," Trina blurted, stopping at the top of the stairs, turning back around.

"Hey Jaaaa-" Tori trailed off, finding no one waiting at the door. She poked her head out, eyes darting from side to side. "Hello?" She called out, still not seeing anyone. She started to close the door when Jade shot out from the darkness, causing Tori to scream in terror.

"Damn Vega, lighten up." Jade managed to spit out in between fits of laughter.

"That was NOT funny Jade," Tori whined, closing the door as Jade walked by.

"C'mon, it's almost Halloween. Get in the spirit," Jade smirked, turning towards the stairs.

"Ickk." She remarked as she saw Trina, still standing at the bottom of the staircase.

Trina shot a look of loathing back at the thespian. "Okay, Tori I'm not sacrificing my bathroom time just because you want to invite that goth to a sleepover so you can try to make a pass at her or whateve-"

"Okaythat'senoughgoodnightTrina." Tori blurted out, rushing to her sister and pushing her up the stairs and out of sight. "Sorry about that. Popcorn?" Tori offered when she returned, smiling nervously.

"I'm good." Jade declined, taking a seat on the couch. "How's Cat? Maybe I should go talk to her."

"She's already asleep. She sat with us at dinner, but couldn't bring herself to eat. Wasn't talkative either, understandably." Tori informed the goth.

"I'll talk to her tomorrow," Jade noted as she took out her notebook from her backpack. "So what do we have to do for this stupid project?"

"That's the attitude you want from your project partner," Tori mumbled to herself as she pulled out the assignment from her own backpack. "We're supposed to make a family tree-"

"What am I, twelve?" Jade cut in, annoyed.

"And write a summary of the family, two-page minimum." The brunette continued.

"Why do I need a partner for that?"

"I have to make the tree and write up a summary for your family, and you have to write up mine," Tori explained to Jade's anguish.

"I am not doing anything that involves talking to that talentless nightmare you call a sister." Jade spat.

"Fine. But I'm not going down with you." Tori said as she pulled out a notebook, fed up with Jade's bad attitude. "So, let's get started shall we?"

"No."

"No? What do you mean no?" Tori implored, putting down her notes.

"You heard me. No." Jade crossed her arms and sat back against the couch.

"C'mon Jade. I don't wanna fail." Tori begged. "We'll start with something easy. Your parents. I've met them already. Mr. West seemed, not terrible. As for Mrs. West, she is….a person." Tori smiled weakly, trying to stay positive.

"That bitch is NOT my mom." Jade quickly objected, catching Tori off guard with her harsh statement.

"Whoa, sorry," Tori replied softly. "I didn't know. I've only seen her, so I just figured…"

"My real mom doesn't live in L.A," Jade revealed.

"Oh. Where does she live?" Tori questioned, pencil ready, trying to get Jade to open up about her family.

"I don't know. Her and my dad had a pretty rough divorce, then poof, she was gone." Jade took a breath before continuing. "Want to hear the kicker?" Tori nodded. "She didn't even fight my dad for custody."

"That's terrible Jade, I'm so sorry."

"Whatever." Jade wiped away a tear from her face. "She's been writing me letters recently. It's better than nothing."

"Why don't we quit for the night, it's been a long day anyway," Tori suggested, patting the raven-haired girl on the back, who agreed. "You can sleep in my room with Cat, I'll take the couch."

"Cat is a 'sleep kicker', I'll take the couch over bruised shins."

"Not in the same bed, I set up an air mattress," Tori revealed as Jade dug through her backpack for her night clothes.

"I'm cool with the couch." Jade stubbornly insisted, heading for the bathroom upstairs. Tori followed, grabbing the goth a blanket and pillow from a hallway closet while she changed.

"You sure you're good with the couch?" Tori asked one last time, feeling weird for leaving her guest with the couch.

"Yes. But maybe you should ask one more time, just in case." Jade said sarcastically, taking the blanket from Tori and throwing it over her shoulder.

"Okay, okay." Tori surrendered, handing the goth her pillow. "Goodnight Jade."

"Night Vega." She replied before quickly disappearing down the stairs.

Tori retreated back to her room, ready for bed. She slowly crept in, trying her hardest not to wake the sleeping redhead. As she laid her head down on the pillow, she looked over and noticed her window blinds weren't shut. She groaned, carefully getting up and out of bed. Ever since she witnessed their elderly neighbor Mr. Taylor being a little too nosy, Trina advised her to keep her blinds closed. She pulled the drawstring, hoping to the lower the blinds so she could go to sleep. Instead, the drawstring did nothing. She sighed, knowing what had to be done. She extended to the tip of her toes, reaching up to the top of her window. She hated doing this when her blinds got stuck, she really needed to buy new ones. She turned slightly, trying to extend her reach, now looking out the window. She saw someone, their head peeking over the fence that separated the two yards. She squinted, trying to think of a reason why Mr. Taylor would be outside this late when a click interrupted her thoughts and the blinds crashed down to the window sill. She jumped back, muffling a scream. She turned back around to Cat, relaxing a bit after seeing she was still asleep. Tori turned back to the window, scanning her view of Mr. Taylor's property. Figuring the old man went back inside, she went back to her bed.

[...]

Tori shot up from her mattress on the floor, the room filled with the echo of Cat's screams. She crawled off her mattress and hurried to her feet, rushing to the side of the bed Cat was on, who was thrashing around in the bed. Jade crashed into the doorway and entered the room, looking disheveled and worried. She joined Tori by the side of the bed, both girls looking at the other for what to do. Tori reached out and grabbed Cat by the shoulders, attempting to calm the redhead down. Jade followed Tori's lead, gripping Cat's legs as Tori tried to wake her up. The brunette tried calling out Cat's name but it wasn't having any effect. Jade struggled to keep Cat's legs down and finally, the redhead slipped out of her grip and a knee connected with the goth's face. Jade held her hand to her face, trying to slow the flowing crimson liquid.

"Damn it!" Jade howled, hurrying to the bathroom. Shortly after that blow, Cat seemed to calm down, returning to a peaceful sleep state. Tori relaxed, slumping against the wall before sliding to the floor.

After making sure Cat was okay, she set off to help with Jade's lip. She entered the bathroom, seeing Jade rifling through her medicine cabinet.

"Where the hell are your band-aids?" Jade asked, having a little trouble speaking.

"You don't need a band-aid," Tori explained, before opening up a drawer next to Jade. She grabbed the supplies she needed and turned back to the injured girl. Tori ran the cotton ball in a bit of warm water before pressing it to Jade's lip, who groaned in return.

"Hey, it's for your own good." Tori insisted as she grabbed Jade's hand and instructed her to keep the cotton ball in place. The brunette reached for the vaseline and put a bit of it on her finger. Moving Jade's hand, she placed the vaseline on Jade's cut.

"All done!" Tori smiled at Jade, before moving to put the medical supplies away.

"Thanks," Jade muttered, turning away from the beaming girl.

"What was that?" Tori teased, lightly nudging the goth.

"Thaaaanks," Jade said louder this time, her lip making her speak funny and in turn caused Tori to snicker. "Oh screw you, Vega," Jade replied, leaving the bathroom.

Tori followed, before splitting off and heading towards Trina's and her parents' rooms. She wanted to inform them about Cat's episode, in case they were wondering about the screaming and bed crashing. Tori opened the door to her sister's room, finding Trina laying down with a bizarre face mask on and her headphones in. Tori wasn't even going to ask, she shut the door and continued to her parent's room. She found her mom still asleep, and her father's side was empty, Tori figuring he was still out on the job. When she got back to her room she discovered Jade standing next to her inflatable mattress.

"Took you long enough." Jade spat.

"What are you doing?" Tori asked.

"Well we have a few more hours before school, I'd like to get a little bit more sleep." Jade retorted, dropping her pillow and blanket on the mattress.

"Okay, I'll take the couch I guess," Tori said dejectedly.

"You can sleep in here too, it's your house. Besides it's for Cat's sake." Jade shrugged before laying down, shifting and trying to get comfortable.

Tori happily settled down onto the mattress next to the goth. Jade looked at Tori's giant smile before emphatically turning onto her other side, away from Tori, whipping her in the face with her hair in the process.

"Goodnight Jade!" Tori whispered cheerfully, smile unfazed.

[...]

"Wake up Smiley." Jade taunted, splashing liquid onto Tori's face.

Tori slowly awoke, finally realizing what was going on around her. "What the-?" She looked up to Jade after wiping off her face. "Did you really have to splash me with water?" Tori questioned.

"No. That's why I didn't splash you with  _water._  It's coffee." Jade revealed.

"What?! Why?" Tori sat up swiftly, using her sleeve to completely dry her face.

"You wouldn't get up." The goth said simply.

"Excuse me for being tired." Tori rose to her feet and looked over to Cat, who was still sleeping. "Why coffee though?"

"It was either that or spit."

" _Why would it be between that or spit?_ " Tori asked, an incredulous look on her face.

"Are you going to ask me questions all morning or are you going to get that demon sister of yours out of the bathroom so we can get ready for school." Jade sassed.

"Ugh, she's still not out yet." Tori groaned, checking the time. "Go ahead and use the shower in my parents' room, my mom should be out on her morning run by now. I'll work on prying Trina out of the other bathroom."

Tori stomped through the hallway and to the bathroom door. She could hear Trina talking, probably on her cell phone.

"Trina!" Tori pounded on the door. "Get out of there, we need to get ready for school!" Tori yelled.

"I can't lil sis, I'm beautifying right now. You know my routine." Trina answered, before returning her attention elsewhere. "No I'm not busy, that's just my annoying little sister." She returned to her phone call.

"I heard that!" Tori barked, clearly annoyed.

"Sorry can't hear you!"

"Yes, you can Tri, open up! We have guests," Tori replied, still pounding on the door.

"Still can't hear you Tor! Doing important beauty makeup stuff!"

"Really?" Tori challenged. "Because to me, it sounds like you're talking on the phone, just to hog up the bathroom to be a gank!"

"I would never do something like that! I'm appalled you'd accuse me of such things." Trina feigned offense.

"I thought you couldn't hear me?"

"...whaat?"

"Ugh!" Tori stomped her foot, before an idea formed in her head. She leaned against the door with a grin on her face. "Get out here now or Derek gets an anonymous Slap message of that interesting birthmark you have." Tori threatened, causing Trina recoiled in horror.

"You wouldn't," Trina growled.

"Oookay, I guess I'll just go back to my room. You know, that place that has my laptop in it. Who knows what Derek might receive…." Tori said innocently as she started to walk away, the door flying open.

"Well played you brat." Trina spat, glaring at her sister.

"I learned from the best," Tori smirked as Trina walked away. The brunette returned to her room to wake up Cat.

"Good morning." Tori greeted as she entered her room, seeing Cat already awake.

"Hey," Cat responded, staring out the window.

"You feeling up for school?" Tori inquired, taking a seat on her bed next to her friend.

"I don't know..." the little redhead sighed.

"Okay, how about you take a shower, see how you feel after. I'll make some breakfast." Tori smiled at the redhead, patting her on the back. She helped Cat collect what she needed then escorted her to the bathroom. She turned to head downstairs and ran straight into Trina, causing Tori to yelp.

"Why is everyone scaring me!?" Tori fumed. "Jade yesterday, now you today!"

"You ran into me!" Trina defended herself, before changing the subject. "So what happened to that ditzy friend of yours? She looked rough. Didn't make a peep at all at dinner. I mean I like Cat but she's annoyingly talky like all the time."

"Her apartment was broken into yesterday and two of her friends were killed," Tori informed her sister.

"Whoa, that's heavy." Trina reflected, feeling a bit guilty about what she said about Cat.

"Yeah, she had some pretty bad night terrors last night."

"So that's what that was!" Trina exclaimed.

"No duh, what else would it have been?"

"I figured Jade sent Cat to the couch and you and her finally got over that sexual tension you guys always have," Trina stated plainly, causing Tori to turn bright red. She looked over her sister's shoulder before she spun around and hurried downstairs. Trina turned to see Jade walking down the hallway, ready for the day.

"Gothic weirdo."

"Talentless hack."

They greeted each other as Jade past Trina and followed Tori downstairs.

"What are you making?" Jade asked, joining Tori in the kitchen and looking over her shoulder.

"Blueberry waffles. Want some?"

"Hell yeah, sounds good."

Jade left Tori to her cooking, settling down on the couch and watching T.V. Not too long after Tori called out, grabbing her attention.

"Will you go ask Cat if she's hungry? She should be out of the shower by now."

Jade nodded, heading up the stairs and looking for the redhead. Tori placed the first plate of waffles on the table before looking at the time. She cleaned up in a hurry, before heading upstairs herself to get ready. After her shower, Tori met Jade in the dining room, who had just taken a plate of waffles.

" _Hellooo_?" Tori interrupted Jade mid-bite.

"You're right. Where's the syrup?" Jade inquired, getting a glare from Tori. "Okay, okay. Relax." The goth rolled her eyes, dropping her fork. "Cat said she isn't hungry and she doesn't feel up to going to school today either."

"I figured. Someone should probably stay with her, don't you think?" Tori thought for a second before continuing. "I have a test I can't miss though." She added, looking over to Jade.

"How nice of you to volunteer me, Vega. Because  _I_ have nothing important today right?" Jade rolled her eyes as Trina came barreling down the stairs, heading towards the door.

"Meeting Derek before class if you're riding with me Tori hurry it up!" She blurted and was out the door before her sister could react. Tori looked to Jade.

" _Just go,"_  Jade stated, answering the brunette's look.

"Thanks, I'll come home as soon as I can!" Tori assured the goth as she ran out the door.

Tori hustled out the door, slamming shoulder first into her sister.

"What happened to 'hurry it up'?" Tori asked, rubbing her shoulder.

"Look." Trina pointed to the emergency vehicles outside Mr. Taylor's house.

"I wonder what happened." Tori pondered, thinking back to last night. "I'm going to go check it out.

"Whatever, just hurry. I'm leaving in two minutes." Trina warned as she got into her car, blaring the radio and singing along.

Tori made her way over to a small group of neighbors, listening in on their conversation.

"They said he died yesterday." One of the neighbors revealed.

"And they didn't find him until this morning?" Another one asked.

"Poor guy lived alone."

The news hit Tori harder than she expected. Mr. Taylor was a creep, but he was harmless. With no family or friends and no one living with him, she realized that she was the last person to see him before he passed. She solemnly held a moment of respect for her neighbor, before seeing her dad walking towards her.

"Rough night?" Tori questioned as her dad joined her in front of Mr. Taylor's yard.

"You can say that again." Her father answered, taking a drink from his coffee. "That crazy sheriff had me searching through murder files from all over the county all night. What a damn waste of time."

"Finally time to get some rest?"

"A bit, gotta get back soon though, still have a case to solve. Speaking of, how's Cat doing?"

"About as well as can be expected. She's taking the day off from school." Tori told her father, he could see she was still worried.

"Hey," He laid his hand on her shoulder," She'll be okay, and the day off should help her clear her mind." Detective Vega comforted his youngest, who visibly relaxed.

"TOOOOORIIII! YOUR FREE RIDE IS LEAVING!" Trina screeched from her car, all the stress returning to Tori thanks to her sister.

"Have a good day at school kiddo." Detective Vega bid farewell, waving to his daughters before he made his way towards one of the officers.

"Detective Vega." He greeted, showing his I.D. "I live next door, mind telling me what happened? Is Mr. Taylor alright?"

"Sorry detective, but Mr. Taylor died yesterday." The officer disclosed.

"Any leads?" The detective asked, his cynicism showing.

"Not needed. Mr. Taylor died of a heart attack, yesterday around noon."

[...]

Jade carefully made her way to the couch, balancing her syrup drenched waffles and a cup of coffee. She put her plate down, then her cup, happy to not have spilled a drop. She took a sip from her cup before exchanging it for the remote, the T.V. flickering to life.

" _Be sure to keep an eye out for the huge storming on track towards the greater L.A. area. Experts are saying we are likely to see around five inches of rain, with gusts reaching up to sixty miles per hour! Luckily for all you trick or treaters out there, the storm isn't expected to reach the streets of Los Angeles until the late morning of November first. Stick with us today as well as Halloween tomorrow for the latest updates and-"_ The broadcast cut off as Jade changed the channel.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for reading!


	6. On the Right Trail

"Tori! Tori! Is it true?" Andre asked, being the first to hurry over to her as she entered through the doors of Hollywood Arts.

"Is what true?" Tori replied before the realization dawned on her. "Wait, do you guys already know what happened at Cat's apartment?"

"Yeah, there are rumors all over the web right now about Sam," Andre exclaimed as he pulled out his PearPad, showing her. "The iCarly fanbase is going haywire!"

"Former 'iCarly' star brutalized in own apartment!'" Tori read the headline aloud. "That was fast."

"Yeah, don't you think that's something worthy of a text? We shoulda been there for Cat." Robbie spoke with a bit of hurt in his voice.

"We were going to text you guys, I swear." Tori pleaded to the group, before taking a deep breath. "But it was a hectic day yesterday, as you can probably imagine." She added, running her hand through her hair.

"So how is she doing? Is she here?" Robbie questioned, full of concern.

"About as good as can be expected. She wasn't up for school today so Jade is keeping her company." Tori sighed, feeling for Cat, wondering how she'll take the news going public. "Can we talk about something else?" She begged as she led the group to her locker, having reached her limit on talking about death for the day.

"Well, we ended up going to that new, 'super' Halloween store in Burbank." Beck chimed in, changing the subject.

"Sounds fun," Tori responded, intrigued. "Do you guys have your costumes ready for tomorrow?" She added, throwing the books for her afternoon classes into her locker.

"You know it, chica!" Andre replied. "My uncle dropped off the threads last night. I got my hippie-rasta outfit all ready! The chicks better be on the lookout tomorrow!"

"And why would they do that?" Tori asked, trying to hide her smirk.

"Don't make that face." Andre scowled, pointing a finger at the brunette. "Chicks dig the laid-back look." He added, looking to Robbie and Beck for back up. Instead, both of them started laughing with Tori.

"Well, at least I  _have_  a costume!" Andre barked, turning to Beck.

"You don't have a costume yet?" Tori frowned, slamming her locker shut and turning fully to the group.

"Meh." Beck shrugged, leaning back against the lockers. "Not really into Halloween."

"You are going to look preeetty stupid without a costume when we go trick or treating," Rex interjected.

"Really? I'm going to be the one looking stupid?" Beck turned to Tori. "Ask Robbie what he's going as." He instructed his friend, crossing his arms.

"What costume did you get Rob?" Tori asked hesitantly, unsure if she wanted to know the answer.

"I am going to be a Navy Seal!" Robbie revealed. "I'm getting the whole outfit custom made, so my muscles will fit."

"Muscles?" Tori visibly cringed.

"Yeah, I bought these last week." Robbie boasted, showing off a picture on his phone. "Only cost me a hundred dollars!"

"A hundred dollars!?" Tori gawked, taking the phone from Robbie's hand. "For these?" She added as Beck and Andre face-palmed.

Luckily for Robbie, the bell rang, interrupting Tori before she could question him any further. They split, each of them off to their respective classes, thankful that the conversation was over.

 

[...]

 

"So I was texting Jade earlier and Cat still hasn't gotten out of bed. I know she went through a traumatic experience, but I'm really worried guys." Tori spoke out first, lazily stabbing her burrito. The morning had gone by without anything of importance, and the group now sat at their usual lunch table.

"Well when she was feeling down yesterday, we all went out together and that seemed to cheer her up. Maybe we can do that again." Robbie said, being the first to offer a solution.

"I'm not sure that will work this time," Beck replied, voicing his doubts. "It's not an 'my brother is not getting the treatment he needs' sadness anymore, more of an 'my close friend and roommate were brutally murdered in a robbery' sadness."

"Well then we just have to do something even more amazing for her!" Tori declared, slamming her fork down in determination.

"Yeah? How are we gonna do that?" Andre questioned between bites of his sandwich.

The gang looked back and forth at one another, no one sure of how to accomplish such a difficult of a task. Tori let out a huge sigh as she laid her head down on the lunch table, dispirited that she couldn't help her friend.

"Well, I have one idea," Beck said as he dug down into his backpack underneath the table, Tori's head popping back up in an instant. "I don't know if it's a good idea though."

"I'm desperate, let's hear it," Tori replied, a glimmer of hope in her eyes.

"The employees of that Halloween store we went to were hyping up this party the whole time we were there. Could be a good time I guess." Beck told her as he dropped a couple of flyers onto the table.

"A Halloween party at the Burbank Mall? Costume contests, pumpkin carving, music with a DJ, food, drinks, FUN." Tori read the piece of paper aloud.

"Then maybe we can go Trick or Treating after? Before the robbery Cat wouldn't stop talking about finding the houses that give out Bibble. And I hear Burbank is a king size candy bar neighborhood." Robbie suggested, grabbing himself a flyer.

"Any other ideas?" Tori asked the group one more time to no response. "Okay then, I'll run this by Jade and Cat tonight. I'll text you guys." She continued before grabbing a flyer and stuffing it into her backpack.

 

[...]

 

"Okay. Okay. Yes. Alright, thank you." Detective Vega hung up his phone in frustration, getting into the driver's seat of his car. Sheriff Doyle sat next to him, focused intently on the map he had laid out on the dashboard in front of him.

"What was that about?" Sheriff Doyle asked, taking a moment to look up from the map.

"Phone call from the station. The lab is behind schedule, so we won't get the DNA results until tomorrow, at best." The detective sighed, looking over to the sheriff. "What are you doing?"

"I'm trying to see if there is a pattern here." The sheriff informed the detective as he leaned over to take a closer look at the map.

"What are those circles?"

"Points of interest. That one is the highway I took into town. If I took it that means Michael probably did as well."

"What about that one?" Detective Vega pointed to a different circle in a familiar area.

"That's where the payphone that the Myers woman used." The sheriff said dismissively, still studying the map.

"Shit." Detective Vega cursed, quickly starting the car.

"What?" Sheriff Doyle questioned, clearing the map from the dashboard.

"That payphone is across the street from a school-"

"Yeah, I noticed the pre-school when I was there, what about it?"

"Not the preschool, the high school behind it." The detective informed, pulling out onto the road. "Hollywood Arts."

"Hollywood Arts?" The sheriff pondered for a moment. "You think that's the 'H' and 'A' from the envelope?"

"Only one way to find out."

 

[...]

 

"Oh hey man," Beck answered the door, greeting his best friend before stepping aside and letting him in. "What's up?"

"My grandma is driving me crazy dude!" Andre exclaimed, crashing down onto a beanbag chair Beck had in his trailer.

"School ended like two hours ago. How bad can it b-" Beck cut himself off when he noticed the look on his friend's face. "Alright what is it this time?" He asked, before turning back around to close the door to his trailer.

"She won't stop freaking out about Halloween. She doesn't want me to go out, thinks that the devil is going to get me or something." Andre said, both of them laughing at the last part. "What about you, up to anything?"

"Nothing right now, just chilling," Beck said, sitting down on the edge of his bed.

"Have you decided what you're going to do for Halloween?" Andre questioned, pulling out his phone and mindlessly flipping through his apps.

"Honestly I don't think Cat is going to want to do anything. And if she doesn't want to, I know for a fact Jade and Tori will stay with her. Maybe Robbie even."

"So?"

"So that means I won't need a costume if we don't go to that party," Beck explained.

"Then we should do something man!" Andre tried convincing his best friend, who remained skeptical.

"Like what?" Beck questioned. "Don't say trick or treating either." He added, shutting his friend down as he opened his mouth to say something.

"Damn." Andre sighed, slumping further into the beanbag chair. "C'mon, we have to do something."

"So why can't we hang out here. Or Robbie's house. Or yours. And why do we have to dress up?"

"Because it's HALLOWEEN! Maybe in Canada-land Halloween is a big downer party but here in America we have a rich hist-" Andre proclaimed, finally removing his gaze from his phone.

"We celebrate Halloween in Canada just like you-" Beck interrupted, unhappy with his homeland being brought into this.

"Apparently  _not_ just like us." Andre chided back. "Besides, what if Cat  _does_ say yes to the party? You're not going to have fun being the lame boy without a costume. Plus you'd kinda be killin' my vibes, I put a lot of thought into this costume! My wingman can't be 'the loser without a costume'."

"Okay, fine." Beck conceded, sighing lightly. "Let's say I do let you pressure me into wearing a costume. How am I supposed to find one this close to Halloween?"

"We better hurry up then!" Andre said with excitement, hopping up to his feet. Beck groaned before grabbing his keys and following his friend out the door.

 

[...]

 

"Follow my lead. This is my daughters' school so don't do anything drastic or crazy." Detective Vega ordered after he found a place to park, turning towards the sheriff. "And would you put that thing away!" He added, seeing Sheriff Doyle's Colt revolver.

"I'm sorry. It helps me feel safe." The sheriff replied softly, patting the pocket inside his sheriff's jacket that has just enough space to fit the long barreled revolver.

"I bet. You could take down a goddamn elephant with that thing. Don't you have something more 'standard issue', we're heading into a school." Detective Vega questioned as he looked at him with skepticism, unsure why a man would carry two guns, especially with the revolver being massive overkill.

The sheriff nodded, putting the Colt Python into a compartment under the seat and checking to make sure his standard nine-millimeter pistol was strapped safely in his hip holster. Now satisfied with the gun situation, the detective led the way into Hollywood Arts. They entered through the front door, noticing the decorations immediately. Spider webs hung down from the ceiling, and decorations of pumpkins and ghosts were strung along the halls. They made their way through the deserted halls, finally seeing someone as they enter the school's main office.

"Mr. Vega? What can I do for you?" The curly haired nerd behind the desk asked politely.

"Hello Sinjin," The detective greeted back, placing his hands on the desk. "Is Helen in?"

"One moment please." Sinjin held up a finger and turned to a device on his desk. "Helen, Mr. Vega is here and wants to speak with you."

"I'm busy, you know that." The harsh voice responded quickly.

"Sorry sir," the nerd turned back to the officers, "if you'd like I can schedule an appointment." He offered, trying to make the best of this awkward situation.

"Unfortunately I am here on official business." Detective Vega explained, his serious demeanor showing.

"Umm, excuse me, Helen?"

"What is it now boy?"

" _Detective_  Vega is here to see you."

"Will you stop bugging me and just send him in already." The principle, Helen, ordered.

The two law enforcement officers thanked the boy as they walked past him and into the principle's office. The short, round woman behind the desk looked up from her stack of papers with a smile.

"David!" She stood, greeting the detective sweetly. The sheriff looked to detective Vega, confused. She didn't seem like the strict, grating person he imagined when he heard her voice a few seconds ago. "What can I do for you?"

"I can't go into much detail. But there is a case I'm working on that you may be able to help me with." Detective Vega started to explain the situation, keeping it vague as he possibly could as Sinjin crept behind the door, eavesdropping.

"What are you doing?" Sikowitz, the eccentric acting teacher, asked as he sipped his coconut, causing the nerd to jump out of his skin.

"Two officers are here, talking to Helen," Sinjin whispered.

"Oh?" Sikowitz replied, intrigued. The odd teacher leaned over next to Sinjin, both of them now listening.

"So we ended up here. We're hoping that you could tell us if anyone has asked to use Hollywood Arts for a mail delivery." The detective finished his story, hoping to finally catch a break.

"No one has requested a personal delivery here." The principal answered quickly, to the dismay of the officers.

"That was fast, how can you be so sure?" Sheriff Doyle spoke up, finally joined the conversation.

"I don't allow personal mail to be delivered here unless specifically requested," Helen informed with a smile on her face. " All requests go through me, and the only request this whole month has been for a teacher's crates of fruit." She explained further, much to the confusion of the officers.

"Seems like a weird situation, don't you think Sikowitz?" Sinjin whispered, before turning around. "Sikowitz?" He called out, but he was alone in the office. He didn't have much time to think about it, as the footsteps from Helen's office were heading for the door.

"Thank you for your time." Detective Vega said with disappointment, realizing they hit another dead end.

The officers headed for the exit, discouraged by their recent luck. Sheriff Doyle's face hardened with resolve as he thought of the next step, while detective Vega started questioning himself, wondering if he really was crazy for going along with this.

"You know, sheriff." Detective Vega said, turning to Sheriff Doyle while they walked. "I'm starting to think we are chasing ghosts here. Not one single piece of evidence pointing to this Mich-"

The detective stopped himself as Sheriff Doyle crashed into a teacher, who seemed to have been extremely engrossed in his phone conversation.

"Sorry about that." The sheriff apologized, picking up the man's phone for him and holding it out in his hand.

"Hello? Erwin?" A voice called out from the teacher's phone. The sheriff's eyes shifted, focusing intently on the phone in his hand.

"It was my fault. Sorry officer." The odd teacher said before snatching his phone and hurrying away.

"What was that about?" Detective Vega asked as the two men stood in the hallway, looking at the spot where the teacher ran off to.

"N-nothing. It was nothing." The sheriff dismissed as detective Vega started for the exit again. It was a quick walk but it didn't take long for the detective to notice the distracted look on the sheriff's face.

"Ready to go?" Detective Vega asked, getting into his car and starting the ignition.

"No, no." Sheriff Doyle finally said, snapping out of his trance and reaching into the car to retrieve his revolver. "I'm going to stay around here. Have a look around the area. I'll find my way back. Get some rest detective. I have a feeling tomorrow is going to be a long day." The sheriff said as he stuck the revolver back into his coat and disappeared into the sea of pedestrians on the L.A. street.


	7. SAMHAIN

Detective Vega dragged himself out of the coffee shop, an annoyed look on his face as he made his way back to the car. He angrily tapped the window with his elbow, finally getting the sheriff to reach across the driver seat and open the door, taking a cup of coffee for himself.

"Tell me again, why we are out this early in the morning?" Detective Vega asked between sips of coffee, taking a seat.

"Because of Michael-" Sheriff Doyle started before being interrupted.

"I know, I know, the Michael Myers crap." Detective Vega mumbled, irritating the sheriff. "But what specifically are we going to do, like right now, this early?"

"If we can find him before he finds that family, we can stop whatever bloodshed that is going to happen." Sheriff Doyle said to the detective, who remained unamused. "Believe me, I've seen the death and destruction firsthand. We need to get out ahead of him."

"Yeah, about that, and I only ask because you keep bringing it up, but what exactly  _is_  your experience with Michael Myers?" Detective Vega inquired, his curiosity the only thing keeping his bad mood in check.

"Depends, which time do you want to know about? There was the time I first saw him, and the time I actively tried to stop him, which almost got me killed." The sheriff replied with apprehension all over his face.

"Both, preferably." The detective said, eager to learn what he could about the buried history of Michael Myers. Between his cases and the sheriff dragging him around everywhere, he still hadn't had a chance to look at the Myers file. So any info he could learn about Myers was intriguing, to say the least.

"The first time I saw him, I was eight years old." Sheriff Doyle leaned back into his seat, his hand wrapped around his pill bottle, ready to go if he needed them. "I was one of the kids Laurie Strode, his sister, was babysitting on the Halloween night when he attacked her. She fought back and eventually ended up stabbing him with his own knife. She came to get us out of our hiding spot in the closet to tell us to go get help, and I remember looking over her shoulder and seeing him lying there, all of us thinking he was dead. But you can't kill evil detective, and you never forget the malevolent presence you feel when he is lurking around…. and that's how I know he's here." The sheriff finished his story, relieved he didn't need his medication.

"Okay, wow," detective Vega said as he took a deep breath, processing everything the sheriff just said before continuing. "I'm sorry you had to go through that as a kid, but during the time we've been together now, in the present, we haven't found any concrete evidence that  **Michael Myers**  is out here." The detective argued. "And as I'm snapping back to reality here, I'm starting to think I'm just as crazy as you are for believing it."

"Just one more day, detective." The sheriff pleaded desperately. "If after tonight nothing happens and he isn't here, you can call me crazy all you want, arrest me for obstructing justice, whatever….. But if he is here, then tonight will be a horrific night for the citizens of Los Angeles. I need your help. Nobody else will believe me, especially now that it's Halloween."

"For a good fucking reason to." Detective Vega replied, before exhaling sharply and turning back to the sheriff. "Okay, what should we do?"

"Maybe we can find him. He has to be hiding in the city, somewhere he couldn't be noticed." The sheriff theorized.

"Like?"

"He'll look for a place that reminds him of home. Do you know of any abandoned houses in the area?"

"Yeah, a handful that I know about, maybe more."

"Then that's where we'll start, let's go."

 

[...]

 

Jade suddenly awoke in the middle of Tori's room, her head pounding and her vision blurry. She racked her brain, trying to think back to last night. She remembered driving home, deciding not to sleepover at Tori's again since she needed to put the finishing touches on her costume. She didn't know how she got back here, or where Tori and Cat were, but for some reason she wasn't focused on any of that right now, instead choosing to look around the dark room. She felt a malicious presence in the darkness, and it was suffocating the room. She flung the door to the hallway open before stepping out and slamming the door behind her.

"What the fuck…?" Jade muttered, squinting as she tried to see what she stepped in. She reached her hand down to her foot, before bringing it back up to her face. "Tori!? Cat!?" Jade called out, panic in her voice, after realizing it was blood. Her vision returned to the puddle she stepped in, seeing that it trailed down the hall. She gulped, following it to the hallway closet. She reached out to the doorknob, but before she could do anything further the door creaked open and a flash of red invaded Jade's sight. The goth felt a weight on her chest and fell backward, landing on her back with a groan.

"Cat get off!" Jade grunted, trying to get free from Cat. The goth twisted her body, finally squirming out from under the redhead. "Caaat.." She whispered to her friend, who was lying face down in front of her. Jade carefully reached over and flipped the redhead onto her back.

"Oh my God…" Jade cried out as her hand shot up to cover her mouth, hoping she didn't throw up. The blood from Cat's empty eye sockets flowed down her face and trailed to her ear. The goth recoiled backward, crawling away from her dead friend until she bumped into something behind her. She slowly turned around, seeing a figure shrouded in darkness towering over her. She immediately took off the other way, down the stairs and towards the front door. She fumbled with the lock, before finally flinging it open. Tori's body was hung on the other side, a pained look frozen on her face as an axe sat in her chest, pinning her to the door. Tears blurred Jade's vision as she passed her, reaching the driveway and getting into her car. A thousand thoughts ran through her head as she reached for the ignition, thankful that the key was already in it. She sped away, crying and afraid. Jade drove wildly down the dark street, before she heard a squeak from behind her, as if someone was moving against the leather of her back seats. Her eyes darted to her rearview mirror, seeing the shadowy figure rise up. She screamed before turning back to the road, headlights blinding her completely.

"FUCK!" Jade shot up from her bed, her hair sticking to the sweat on her forehead. She felt around her bed, make sure she was safe at home and that it was just a dream. Satisfied, she sighed in relief and fell back into the comfort of her sheets, hoping her heart rate returned to normal sometime soon. She turned her head towards the clock on her nightstand, seeing it was almost time to get up anyway.

_What a fitting way to start off Halloween,_ she thought before reaching for her vibrating phone.

"Vega," Jade said simply after reading her caller ID.

"Good morning to you too." Tori scoffed, before continuing. "Cat wants to know if you could swing by her apartment and pick up her costume. My dad said they got everything they could from her apartment evidence-wise, and she could go back whenever she wanted to. But she still needs to get it cleaned before she could live in it again, and I'd rather she didn't go back there right now anyway."

"Yeah, yeah sure Vega. I'll call you when I get there." Jade agreed, throwing the covers off of herself and sitting up on the edge of the bed.

"Thanks, Jade! See you soon." Tori said with too much sweetness in her voice for how early it was.

Jade hung up and started to gather her things to get ready for the day. She still wasn't sure how Tori convinced Cat to go out today, but if it meant Cat was feeling better, she wasn't going to question it.

 

[...]

 

"For the hundredth time,  _I need to know where it is,_ " Jade said, frustrated. She'd been asking Tori the same question for the past five minutes while she sat on a bench outside Cat's apartment.

"It's in her room," Tori informed, trying to get Cat to stop getting sidetracked in her talkative nature.

"No shit Vega. I need specifics. I'm not going in there until I know exactly where it is."

"Why's that? Is the big bad Jade afraid?" Tori teased, trying to lighten the situation.

"No, but that place is probably filled with biohazards. I'm not catching some disease because I couldn't find a Halloween costume." Jade spat. "Will you just put Cat on the phone?"

"Hey Jadey!" Cat sang out, ringing Jade's ear on the other line.

"Sup." Jade returned the greeting, letting the redhead get away with using her nickname that she despised. Usually, it would annoy her, but since Cat was in a better mood, Jade didn't want to ruin it. "Okay, Cat." The goth said slowly. "I need you to tell me where your costume is."

"It's in my room silly," Cat told her best friend, giggling.

"I know that Kitty Cat," Jade said through gritted teeth, trying not to be mean. "Where, specifically."

"In my pink bag, on the top shelf." Cat stated.

"Thaaank you." Jade sighed, finally making her way to the door.

"Bye Jadey!"

"Wait, Cat it's locked!" Jade said as she twisted and turned the doorknob. "What now? Hello? Hello?!" Jade cursed as she pulled the phone away from her ear, seeing that her friend hung up. She quickly dialed Tori's number again, only to go straight to voicemail. She tried the door again, tilting her head back in frustration, letting out a groan until she noticed an open window above her. Jade thought for a moment, looking around for something to boost her up to the window sill. She smirked, walking over to the bench she was sitting on earlier and dragging it over and into place. One foot at a time, Jade was able to boost herself up high enough to reach her hand to the window sill. She shifted her weight around slightly, testing the sturdiness of the bench. It didn't collapse immediately, which was good, but she figured the only way to know for sure was if she just went for it. She leaped, trying to get the top half of her body into the window. Unfortunately, her foot slipped, and she lost the feeling of safety underneath her. The shift in momentum pushed her backward and she flung her hands out to her sides, trying to catch anything to help lessen her fall. Her hand scraped against the brick building as she fell, hitting the ground with a thud. It took her a moment to shake away the dizziness and regain her senses and now she just laid on the ground, contemplating even getting up.

_How did I get to this point in my life?_  Jade thought, staring blankly up at the sky until she was interrupted by her phone ringing.

"What now?" Jade spat, barely able to maneuver her sore arm enough to put the phone to her ear.

"Yeaaah," Tori started, a touch of awkwardness in her voice. "One of Cat's neighbor's called, she said some goth girl was trying to break into Cat's apartment. I assume that's you?" Tori finished, using every bit of her restraint to not laugh.

"No Vega it's that other girl you asked to pick up Cat's costume."

"So you aren't lying on the ground right now?" The brunette asked.

"STOP SPYING ON ME!" Jade shouted, now in a sitting position, to whoever was watching.

"Ow." Tori whimpered as she recoiled away from her phone, hand over her ear.

Jade slowly rose to her feet, surveying her surroundings. "Yeah, I'm Cat's  **friend** , not a criminal! So fuck off!" Jade continued her rant, directing it towards the person watching her across the courtyard. The figure didn't move, just stayed slightly out of view, but enough for her to notice them standing there. Whoever it was, it was starting to weird her out. "Tell Cat to get her nosy fucking neighbor to go back inside." She added.

"Cat, Jade wants you t-" Tori began before the redhead cut her off. "Okay, okay I'll tell her. Jade, Cat wants to know why you don't just use the key?"

"What key?" Jade inquired, almost at her boiling point.

"The one under the rock that says 'home'." Jade heard Cat say in the background. "The one under-"

"Shut it Vega," Jade cut her off, getting up slowly and starting to ache everywhere.

Jade finally entered the home, shocked at the state it was in. The dried blood was disgusting and she couldn't even imagine what else lurked in this disease ridden nightmare. She hurried through the mess in the living room in hopes that the bedroom was in better shape. To her disappointment, the bedroom was just as bad. She hurried to the closet, wondering why someone would go through the trouble of doing this. Going through the rooms in hopes of finding something valuable was one thing, but whoever did this destroyed everything in their path. The closet was destroyed, the shelves being torn out and scattered. Jade finally found the bag by Cat's bed, finding everything inside ripped to shreds. Unsure of what to do next, she pulled out her phone and dialed.

"Gonna hang up on me again?" The scorned brunette on the other line asked.

"Maybe. But more importantly, Cat's, well everything is ripped apart in here." Jade told her, looking around the room again, something under Cat's bed catching her eye.

"Even her costume?" Tori questioned with sadness in her voice.

"That is a part of her everything Vega." Jade spat, pulling out a stuffed purple giraffe from under Cat's bed that somehow survived unscathed. "Now what?"

"I'll ask Cat. One sec."

 

[...]

 

"Hurry up, man. We need to get to Tori's!" Andre yelled through Beck's trailer door, slightly adjusting the hat of his rasta hippy costume.

"I'm not going," Beck stated from inside.

"What, why?" Andre questioned, pounding on the door repeatedly. "C'mon you bought a mask yesterday, might as well wear it."

"I look like an idiot."

"Don't worry it's Halloween, everyone will think you're  _supposed_  to look like an idiot." Andre snickered, poking fun at his best friend.

"Just go without me."

"C'mon don't be like that I was joking."

"What's going on?" Robbie emerged from Beck's parent's house in costume. Andre busted out laughing, causing Beck to come out of his trailer, seeing Robbie and laughing just as hard. The 'Navy Seal' uniform he had been hyping up for the past few days turned out to be a black button-down shirt and blue jeans, making him look like Popeye the Sailor.

"Holy hell man, what happened?" Andre questioned between fits of laughter.

"Yeah weren't you getting it custom made?" Beck added, trying to keep a straight face.

"It seems there was a mix-up," Robbie stated matter-of-factly, both of his friends nodding in agreement. "The tailor thought I meant 'Navy' as in a sailor, not Navy Seal."

"Oh really?" Andre continued the teasing.

"Brightside-" Robbie started.

"Oh, there's a bright side? It keeps getting better." Andre added, not able to help himself.

"Yeah, I can still use my muscles!" Robbie said with excitement, pumping up his 'muscles'.

"Perfect." Beck and Andre said in unison as Robbie 'flexed' his new muscles.

"Okay, Cool Guy," Robbie sensed the sarcasm and tried to turn the tables back on Beck. "Let's see your costume."

"I'm okay," Beck replied, immediately quieting down.

"All that talk..." Robbie jeered back, to Beck's irritation.

"Fine, fine." Beck unveiled a whitish-gray mask with a mouth open, contorted face with blacked out mouth and eye holes. He put it on and stared down his friends. "So?"

"That's it?" Andre inquired, unimpressed.

"That's it? What else could there be?" Beck genuinely asked.

"Well for one, you're in street clothes." Robbie pointed out.

"I don't even know what I'm supposed to be, how would I know what to wear?" Beck argued.

Andre left the two outside, going into the trailer to help his friend.

"What about this?" Andre emerged from the trailer after a short while, holding up dark blue coveralls.

"My coveralls for working on my car?"

"Well, you don't have a lot of options," Andre answered with a shrug.

"Better than looking like a weirdo in street clothes and a mask," Robbie added.

"Don't you have some spinach to eat?" Beck shot back, causing Andre to burst out into laughter again, before grabbing the coveralls and returning to his trailer to change.

 

[...]

 

Detective Vega pulled up to an abandoned house in a suburb around Los Angeles. Both men exited the vehicle and slowly made their way towards the front door. Sheriff Doyle took the lead, taking the stairs up to the front door. Both men eyed the porch, noticing the dust accumulating.

"I know you didn't know about the last one, but do you know what happened at this house?" Sheriff Doyle asked, both men standing in front of the door.

"Yeah actually. A family used to live here until one night, a burglar broke in. Long story short, it got nasty and only the father survived. He hung around for awhile, but losing his wife and kids was too much for him. He took his own life not too long after." The detective revealed.

"That's terrible…"

"Yeah, and as you can see, no one has been interested in the house since." Detective Vega said as he swiped a spider away from his face. "Now it's just another myth, a haunted house for the neighborhood kids." He added, crouching down and inspecting a juvenile drawing of a ghost on the porch floor in spray paint.

"It seems that every town has one." Sheriff Doyle said with his hand on the doorknob, looking to Detective Vega for the go ahead. The detective nodded, and the officers breached the door. The sheriff took the stairs while the detective broke left, clearing what looked to be what was left of the living room. He dropped to a knee, seeing a couple of rats piled together in a pool of blood. He leaned in a little closer, trying to inspect the critters.

"Fuck!" Detective Vega shouted as he jumped back, startled by a black cat that scurried out from an old cabinet. "Damn cat," he muttered, watching it dart farther into the house.

"Detective!" The sheriff called out from upstairs. "I think I found something."

Detective Vega walked into the upstairs bedroom to see Sheriff Doyle crouched down over something. He crept up, looking over the sheriff's shoulder and suddenly wishing he didn't. It was the corpse of a dog, the throat was ripped out and what remained of it entrails were spilled onto the floor.

"Still warm." Sheriff Doyle noted, pulling his hand back and wiping it off on his pant leg.

"There is a cat somewhere in the house…" Detective Vega informed, looking for any reason to explain the situation.

"No cat did this." The sheriff stated, looking at what seemed to be bite marks.

"Maybe a raccoon then. Or maybe a junkie squatter was using this place and we scared him off." The detective rationalized, but it fell on deaf ears. The sheriff was lost in deep, unbeknownst to detective Vega. "Drugs can fuck you up," the detective continued, oblivious, "combine that with being homeless without any source of food, and a junkie could have easily done this." He finished before watching the sheriff get up and head for the door. "Hey, where are you going?" Detective Vega asked as he followed Sheriff Doyle out of the house and to the sidewalk. He watched the sheriff carefully as the older man turned from side to side, surveying the entire neighborhood. "What's the matter?"

"He was here, that dog was fresh." The sheriff finally spoke, still turning around and looking in every direction. "He has to be close. Get in the car, cover the front of this block and the next, I'll check the alleyways." He directed, to the annoyance of the detective.

"That's insane-" Detective Vega couldn't get two words out before the sheriff disappeared into the abandoned house's backyard. He threw his hands up in the air in frustration, before spinning around to head to his car. He had a hand on the door handle when a rustle behind him, and across the street. He managed to catch a shadow disappear behind a hedge of bushes. He rushed across, one hand settling on the gun in his holster, the other pushed the bushes apart, expecting a serial killer on the other side. Thankfully finding nothing out of the ordinary, he clicked his gun back into the holster and wiped the sweat off of his forehead.

 

[...]

 

"Thanks for stopping by." The teacher said as he opened the door to his classroom and let the woman in.

"It's no problem," the woman responded, placing her wet umbrella down on a desk and unraveling the scarf from her neck. "I thought they said the storm wasn't supposed to hit until tomorrow."

"It's just a light storm, should let up soon. Nothing compared to what's coming tomorrow." The teacher replied, taking a seat behind his desk.

"I noticed the decorations, getting ready for a Halloween ball? Man, I used to love Halloween" She remarked, taking a seat across from the teacher.

"Not exactly, principal Helen decided to cut costs this school year by not throwing any 'unnecessary holiday themed balls', as she put it. The kids decided to decorate out of protest, now I'm just in here catching up on grading." The man, Sikowitz, explained as he placed a cup of hot coffee on the desk.

"Whoa wait a second, you're a coffee drinker now? It really has been too long." The woman teased with a smile on her face.

"Of course not!" He laughed back, sliding the cup of coffee across to her and grabbing a coconut out from behind his desk for himself. "I could never give these up."

"There's the Sikowitz I know!" She exclaimed, taking a look around the room and noticing how it had barely changed over the years. "Wow, being back here, it brings back memories."

"Yeah, I remember as well. You were one of the good ones." He remembered fondly, before continuing. "It's a shame you never pursued your passion."

"Yeah, but it was never really up to me." The woman noted, a hint of sorrow in her voice as she took the cup of coffee.

"I'm sorry, didn't mean to bring up the past."

"It's okay, it seems that the past is all I can think about nowadays anyway." She said before taking a sip from her cup. "Might as well tell me now, did you get in trouble because of me?"

"No no no," he reassured her as he shook his head. "There were police here, but they only talked to principal Helen. They were vague with their reasons, but they asked if anyone ordered for anything to be delivered here."

"I'm glad you're in the clear," she exhaled in relief. "Did you get it then? Did everything go smoothly? Where is it?" The woman's demeanor changed from friendly to anxious in an instant.

"Well.. no. All I've gotten so far was my coconuts."

"You sure?" She asked, the man nodding in return. "Damn it! He told me it would be here by now." The woman cursed to herself, looking down to the floor.

"Hey, are you okay?" Sikowitz reached across the desk and put his hand over the woman's, comforting her a bit. "I know you said you couldn't tell me, but if you're in danger you need to seek help."

"No!" The woman withdrew her hand quickly before regaining her composure. "I have it under control."

"But you are in danger?" Sikowitz asked again to the annoyance of the woman, who got up to leave.

"Thank you for sticking your neck out for me, it was really good to see you but I have to go, please don't say anything about me being here." She said, hastily throwing on her scarf and grabbing her umbrella, heading for the door.

"Just wait for a sec-... wait!" Sikowitz called out, getting up and going after her. He stopped at the door to his classroom, seeing she was already gone. He sighed, returning to his desk. The teacher noisily tapped his pen against his desk, struggling to focus on his work. He reached for his phone, hesitantly scrolling through his contacts. He hovered over the call button, unsure of what to do. It really wasn't his place to get involved in a family matter that wasn't his, but he had the feeling that a student of his was in trouble and he couldn't stand by idly if that was the case. He was snapped out of his thoughts by his classroom door shaking as if someone was trying to get in.

"It's open." He informed, putting his phone away and waiting for the person at the door. When no one entered, he got up, opening the door to an empty hallway. "Hey, Sinjin!" He hailed the nerd who was passing by in the halls.

"Sup, Sikowitz," Sinjin replied, hands full of stacks of paper and folders.

"Did you see anyone just now?" The teacher asked, knowing it couldn't have been Sinjin messing with his door since he had his hands were full. The nerd shook his head in response. "Need any help?" He asked again, noticing he was about to fall over from the amount of paperwork in his hands.

"Yessir!" Sinjin responded with glee, happy to have help and someone else to talk to in the deserted school.

"What are you doing here on Halloween, anyway?" Sikowitz questioned, taking some of the folders from Sinjin and following him to the office.

"Helen said if I work weekends I can get extra credit for my 'office administrator' class," Sinjin explained, dropping the papers on his desk in the office, Sikowitz following suit.

"That's good, every credit helps," Sikowitz said, trying to break the silence. "Well, Happy Halloween." He continued, before heading to his classroom.

"Yeah you too, thanks," Sinjin replied, popping in his earbuds and starting to sort all the papers on his desk.

Sikowitz trekked back to his room, thrown off by the absence of any students in the hallways. He knew it was Halloween, but there were always at least a couple of stragglers running around, collecting homework or working on some type of performance. His thoughts dissipated as he made it back to his classroom, closing the door behind him and settling at his desk. He reached into his desk for his phone, when his door slowly creaked open. He stared at it, trying to remember if he heard the door click into place when he closed it a minute ago or if he left it open a crack. The hair stood up on the back of his neck, but he brushed it off as Halloween jitters. He walked over to the door, grinning to himself over his silliness. He leaned out the hallway, looking both ways before closing the door. He shut the shade over the window before hearing heavy breathing. He scrunched his eyebrows, almost as if he couldn't believe his ears. He turned around, meeting a mysterious masked man face to face.

"Uhh...hi." The teacher greeted, thinking, hoping, it was just a student practicing for a play. That hope was immediately shattered, as the man grabbed Sikowitz by the throat, lifting him up and against the wall. Sikowitz kicked his feet, hitting the attacker in the abdomen over and over again. It must have had an effect, as the man released the teacher and tossed him across the room. Sikowitz slammed into his desk with such force that it sent him over the top and onto the floor behind it. A searing pain shot through his knee, and when he checked it, he saw that it was two inches off to the left, dislocated. He groaned in agony, looking up and seeing the window he always used to get into his classroom, preferring the garden outside it inside of using the door. He crawled towards it, looking back and seeing the assailant toss his chair aside, slowly making his way after him. Sikowitz struggled to his feet, dragging his limp leg along behind him and jumping for the open window. He saw the ground coming at him as he fell out the window, closing his eyes and bracing himself for the impact. He knew almost immediately something was wrong because instead of hitting the ground, all he could feel was the rain hitting the top of his head. He opened his eyes, realizing he was suspended mid-air. That's when he noticed the hand on his bad leg, which started pulling him back into the school. He tried to fight back, but the man jerked his knee farther out of its socket in retaliation. He howled, the pain forcing him to stop fighting back. The masked man held him on the window sill, his neck aligned with the window's frame.

"Nonono..." Sikowitz pleaded, seeing what the man was about to do and holding his hands upwards to try and soften the blow. The attacker continued without a second thought, grabbing the window and slamming it down onto the teacher's neck with such force that the window cracked, his wrists snapping backward from trying to stop the window. Sikowitz let out a wheeze, blood spitting up from his mouth and onto the window as his limp hands now dangled off to his sides. The attacker tilted his head, seeing the teacher still breathing, but just barely. He raised the window again with one hand, the other on his victim's chest, keeping him in place. He slammed it down again, another crack forming in the window's glass. This time a sickening pop signaled to him that his job was done. He released his grip and the body slowly slumped down out of the window sill and against the wall, blood trickling out of the corner of Sikowitz's mouth.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for the kudos!


	8. The Devil's Burns

"You know, it's not too late to turn back," Beck pleaded with his two friends, hesitating to knock on the door to the Vega residence as he looked over his ridiculous 'costume'.

"Now it is!" Andre said as he stepped in front of him and knocked on the door.

"Hey guys!" Tori greeted, wearing a bloody, white long-sleeved dress in the style of Tawny from 'The Scissoring'. "Pizza's on the table, help yourselves." She added as the boys hurried past her, racing each other to be the first to dig in.

"So Tor," Andre spoke between bites, "why does that dress look different from the one Jade wore to school that one time to impress Beck's friend?"

"Well this one started out exactly like that one, but thankfully Cat was able to make some adjustments. I had her shorten the length to just above the knees so the dress won't drag along the ground all night and get ruined." She answered. "What do you guys think?"

"Looks great." Beck complimented as Jade made her way downstairs in her 'angel' costume.

"Of course you'd think so, Beckett." Jade spat, stopping next to Tori in the living room and looking towards the table where the boys were eating. "Robbie! Cat wants to- wait, what the hell is that costume?"

"Funny story actually, the tailor I hired actually thought I wanted-" Robbie started before being interrupted.

"Too long don't care, Cat wants to talk to you," Jade said quickly as she waved off the nerd. She watched him disappear up the stairs before turning to Tori. "You noticed right?"

"Yeaaah! What are the chances of that?" Tori responded, completely astonished.

"It's like his nerd destiny to be paired with Cat or something. Gross."

"C'mon, they're cute together." Tori tried to sway the goth, but Jade remained indifferent.

"Hey what are you guys talking about?" Beck questioned from the kitchen, grabbing a drink.

"You'll see," Tori replied, turning her attention towards Andre. " _Nice threads mon!_ " She said with her best Jamaican accent, causing Jade to roll her eyes.

"Thanks, hopefully the chicks at the party think so too!"

"What about you, what's with the Brandon James mask and coveralls?" Jade asked her ex, pointing to the ghostly gray mask resting on Beck's head.

"Brandon James?" Beck asked with a perplexed look on his face as he lowered the water bottle from his mouth.

"You bought a mask without knowing where it's from? Or looking it up?"

"What's the big deal?" Tori questioned out of curiosity.

"Because now the costume is off and the mask doesn't make sense with his outfit. It's like wearing a Leatherface costume with a machete." Jade countered, but the reference seemed to fly over the brunette's head. "Freddy Krueger with a chainsaw?" The goth tried again, but Tori shrugged in response. "Geez Vega, you need to watch more horror movies."

 

[...]

 

"Cat?" Robbie called out after a light knock on Tori's door.

"Robbie!" The small redhead rejoiced, running to the door and wrapping the curly haired boy in a hug. "Great costume!" She added after she released him.

"Really?! You think so?" Robbie replied, releasing a sigh of relief that he didn't even know he was holding in.

"Of course! You make a cute sailor!" Cat said, turning Robbie's cheeks red. "Do you like my outfit?" She asked as she twirled in a circle, showing off her red top and black sock hop skirt, only stopping to readjust her scarf.

"Yeah you look b-" Robbie paused to clear his throat, "you look awesome." He said with a smile, hoping to not make it awkward. She beamed back at him, only to make him smile even harder. "So why did you ask me to come up here?"

"Oh!" Cat bounced over to her things by Tori's desk and returned with something behind her back. "Guess what I have!"

"Umm…" Robbie brought a hand to his chin, pretending he didn't know. "Is it... an orange hippopotamus?"

"No silly!" Cat giggled. "It's Mr. Purple!" She revealed, pushing the stuffed giraffe towards Robbie.

"Wow! I knew he'd make it!"

"Yeah, but he's kinda sad…" Cat trailed off, a frown on her face.

"Why's that?"

"He gets lonely," Cat said, before moving closer to Robbie. "Do you think Rex can stay and keep him company?"

"You want me to leave Rex?" Robbie said, shuffling around a bit out of nervousness. His puppet was a huge safety net for him, especially in social situations.

"Pleeease?" The redhead's lip curled into a pout as she pleaded her case. "Mr. Purple is still recovering from the trauma he went through, he needs a buddy."

"I-I don't know," Robbie stuttered, clearly conflicted. "Rex is really looking forward to tonight."

"So I am, to spending it with you," Cat said with a hopeful expression on her face.

"Okaaay Rex can stay with Mr. Purple," Robbie said softly as his nervousness dissipated, the both of them looking at each other with a smile.

 

[...]

 

"Ghostface with a spear? Chucky with a fire axe? Pinhead with a machine gun? Tawny without her scissors? NOTHING?" Jade threw her hands up in the air and fell back onto the couch. "Speaking of Tawny, what's up with your costume?" Jade asked as she shot back up, finally noticing the changes Cat made to the dress.

"Cat modified it a bit," Tori replied defensively, seeing the unimpressed expression the goth was shooting her way. "What? You couldn't have really expected me to drag a dress along the ground all night."

"What about the tights? And the boots. That's even more changes to her original outfit." Jade judged, arms crossed.

"My legs get cold, sue me!" Tori shot back. "And I'm not going to wear heels, especially if we are going trick or treating after! I would like to be able to feel my feet after tonight thank you very much!"

"What a wimp," Jade remarked as she stood up from the couch and turned towards the group with a triumphant smirk. "So I think we all can agree I won the challenge then, she looks  _nothing_ like Tawny."

"Whoa whoa whoa whoa, wait a second." Tori stood up and approached the goth. "Let's take a moment to chat about YOUR costume, shall we? We shall."

"No one talks like that," Jade said as she rolled her eyes, her tone dripping with annoyance.

"That is not the kind of angel we talked about," Tori noted, pointing out the revealing gray dress that barely extended down to her mid-thigh and the dark wings on her back. "And don't criticize me about leggings when you're wearing a pair too!"

"Tawny doesn't wear leggings, Vega!"

"Neither do angels, West!"

"You never specifically said I had to be a 'goody-two-shoes' angel. I like my version, a dark angel." Jade retorted, shrugging.

"And you this is MY version of Tawny," Tori responded with a smirk.

Jade growled, trying to think of a comeback when Robbie and Cat descended the stairs together.

"We-we ready to head out guys?" Robbie asked uncomfortably, trying to break the awkward tension. Everyone nodded, not wanting to address the fact that they looked like the cartoon couple 'Popeye and Olive Oyl', figuring it would be better if the two realized that on their own.

"Dang, looking good Red," Andre said, taking a break from practicing his wingman routine with Beck and trying to bring the atmosphere in the room back to normal. "Let's get going."

"Thank God," Beck said before he sighed in relief, pushing his mask up to the top of his head. "I can breathe again."

"Not for long," Andre said, earning weird looks from everyone else in the group. "N-no I meant like he has to wear the mask again when we get to the party. Not like-never mind let's just go." He tried explaining but ended up ushering the boys towards the door.

"Guess we're with you," Tori chimed in, grabbing everything she needed for the night and moving next to Jade, with Cat right beside her.

The goth turned around, seeing the grinning brunette and a beaming redhead giddily awaiting her to take the lead. "Guess  _I'll_  call an Uber." She muttered, pulling out her phone.

"Why?" Cat asked, not losing her cheery demeanor.

"We're going to a party. I plan on partying," Jade said with a smirk of her own, making Cat and Tori a bit wary of what was to come.

 

[...]

 

"God I hate rain," Sheriff Doyle remarked as he stepped out into the inclement weather, hunched over and using half of his jacket to try and block some of the droplets from splashing his face. He rushed up the driveway, stepping in a puddle before he followed the detective into his home. "Son of a-"

"Storm's probably getting worse before it gets better," Detective Vega guessed as he moved through the living room to the door of his den, entering the combination to the lock he keeps on the door.

"Pretty heavy lock there," The sheriff commented out loud, trying to think of a reason.

"Oh, this?" Detective Vega said as he struggled to input the right code. "When Tori was little, there was no place that kid couldn't get into, so I put a lock on the door to keep her out. Maybe I was being overly cautious, but the stairs are a little steep. Then when she grew up I guess I just kept the lock as a way to keep my work separate from my home life. As much as I could at least."

The answer was a perfectly logical one, even if it was one the sheriff could never relate to. "Nice house." He commented as he fully took in his surroundings, hoping to change the subject before seeing the woman at the top of the stairs. "Excuse me, I didn't notice you standing there. I'm Thomas Doyle, nice to meet you."

"Holly Vega, nice to meet you too." The woman replied with sincerity. "I see David forgot his manners," she said with a smile as she made her way downstairs. "Can I get you anything?"

"No no, that won't be necessary. Thank you," Sheriff Doyle answered back kindly.

"Hey, honey." Detective Vega finally made his presence known after opening the lock. "I'll meet you down there." He told the sheriff, who nodded and made his way down the stairs.

"He seems nice."

"Nice… Not exactly the word I'd use, but sure." Detective Vega responded, sighing lightly.

"I would ask but I'm guessing you can't tell me right, work stuff?" His wife asked with a furrowed brow.

"Work stuff," Detective Vega reassured her before continuing. "Where are the kids? It feels odd for it to be so quiet around here."

"Trina's upstairs sulking and Tori went out with her friends to a Halloween party in Burbank." She finished, noticing the look on David's face. "Boy troubles." She revealed.

"You can handle that right?" Detective Vega asked, slowly backing away towards his den.

"Of course," Holly replied with a playful eye roll. "You go save the world hun."

"I will. Talk to you tonight. I love you," He said as he hurried back to kiss his wife.

"Love you too. Talk later."

Shortly after, detective Vega joined the sheriff in his den, who was inspecting the files on the detective's desk.

"We should really be out there searching," Sheriff Doyle said while also noting how many cases the detective was involved in.

"We will, but we won't be much help to anyone if we catch pneumonia," The detective responded, heading for the walk-in closet. "Also wanted a little extra assurance." He added.

"As long as we get back out there as soon as possible."

"Alright, alright. Give me a moment." Detective Vega argued as he picked out his ballistic vest, preparing for the worst. "Since we have a moment, what happened the second time you crossed paths with Michael?" The detective couldn't help but ask as he adjusted the straps of his vest, his curiosity had been eating away at him since the sheriff told him about his first encounter.

"Fine," sheriff Doyle sighed. He didn't want to relive this memory, as this one was far more painful than the one he told the detective earlier. He pressed on anyway, figuring he owed detective Vega that much. "It was ninety-five, seventeen years after Michael first broke out of Smith's Grove and Dr. Loomis blew up the hospital with both of them in it. Ever since I saw him that night, I was obsessed with what he was, with whatever evil that lurked inside of him. I moved into the house across the street from the Myers' house and would just watch it…. waiting for the day he would come back home." Sheriff Doyle immediately noticed the look on detective Vega's face. "I know, I know. I wasn't in a healthy state of mind, obviously. Anyways, at the time, Michael was 'officially' dead, but I found little bits of information that suggested that he was actually alive, and had killed after his supposed death. However, it was all circumstantial, 'conspiracy theory' evidence at best. Around this same time, John Strode moved his family into the Myers' house." Sheriff Doyle paused for a moment, taking a deep breath. "That Halloween Michael returned and killed thirteen people including John, his wife Debra, their son Tim and his girlfriend Beth. I managed to escape with John's daughter, Kara Strode and her son Danny. We ended up at Smith's Grove Sanitarium and since Michael spent a large portion of his life there, it didn't take long for him to corner us."

"Back against the wall, facing down a brutal masked murdered. Must have been terrifying. What did you do?" Detective Vega, who by now had made his way back to his desk, questioned with an intense look of intrigue.

"We fought back. When Michael was distracted, I injected him with enough tranquilizer to down an elephant."

"And that worked?"

"Hell no. He picked me up by the throat and tossed me across the room with one hand."

"Holy shit," The detective commented, in awe of the sheriff's story.

"When I regained consciousness Michael was trying to get to Danny, who was hiding in the corner of the room. I snuck up on Michael and hit him with even more tranquilizers. The second dose sent him reeling, so I did what I had to do. I grabbed the first weapon I could find and bashed in his head until he didn't move anymore…" Sheriff Doyle trailed off, closing his eyes as he tried to regain his composure.

"Jesus. What a story," Detective Vega sighed as he relaxed back in his chair.

"I wish it ended there..." Sheriff Doyle said, his tone dripping with regret, before continuing, "We left Michael for dead and booked it out of Smith's Grove. I tried to convince Dr. Loomis to leave with us but he insisted on staying, saying something about unfinished business. He went back inside despite all of our pleas for him to come with us. I didn't feel right leaving him behind, considering we didn't know for sure if Michael was really dead. But that was also the same reason I had to leave, to keep Kara and Danny safe. I stopped at the exit gate and got out to open it, I swear I was only gone for a moment. After we got onto the freeway out of Haddonfield I heard Danny let out a sick, blood-curdling scream. I turned to the backseat and all I could see was Michael lunging towards me. It was the first and only time I've seen him without his mask. I thought Loomis' burns were bad but Michael's… I don't know how any man could have survived that damage."

"...what happened next?" Detective Vega asked with a bit of hesitation, but he had to know how the story ended.

"I was keeping one hand on the wheel while trying to fight off Michael with the other and ended up veering off the road. The car rolled, I'm not sure how many times, my memory gets a bit hazy here. I remember waking up to the taste of blood, upside down, suspended in mid-air by my seat belt. My head was pounding and I was fading in and out of consciousness. I remember… I-I..." The sheriff cleared his throat, trying to keep it together. "I remember Kara crying out for her son as I noticed a pair of boots slowly walked up to her side of the car. I tried to warn her, to say something, anything. But I was too weak, I passed out. I failed them." Sheriff Doyle barely choked out. Detective Vega couldn't do anything but wait while the sheriff tried to continue the story. "Next thing I know I'm waking up in the hospital with Dr. Loomis by my side. After all these years, that's what sticks with me the most. The bastard let me live. He killed Kara right next to me and could have easily done the same to me, but he let me live. Right there I decided to kill him myself, for Kara and her son, and everyone else he's hurt."

"Shit," Detective Vega cursed, feeling terrible for opening old wounds. "I didn't mean to-"

"I'll be fine. I just need a moment," Sheriff Doyle said quietly, the memory affecting him more than he predicted.

"Yeah of course." The detective nodded and headed for the stairs, reaching for his phone and answering it immediately. "Detective Vega."

"Detective, it's Dr. Locke down at the lab. I need to talk to you immediately about the Venice case."

"You got it doc, I'll be down there as soon as possible."

Sheriff Doyle emerged from Detective Vega's den, looking calm and composed.

"You good?" The detective asked, still feeling guilty.

"Yeah, let's just get back out there. We need to find him."

"Need to make a stop, there might be a break in the Venice case." The detective stopped at the front door. "I'm sorry for asking you to tell that story and bringing up that old shit. Wasn't my intention."

"It's fine. I was the one who brought all this up to you in the first place anyway," the sheriff reassured detective Vega as they both stepped outside and into the storm. "And If I'm being honest, maybe it helps a bit. Since Loomis died, it's just been me looking for Michael. I've gotten used to the isolation, the terrible headaches, the flashbacks, but since I got here, they have subsided, almost stopped completely. Maybe that's why Loomis did this for so long. When you're chasing evil in the present, the evil from your past can't catch up with you. Ahh... I don't fucking know, maybe I'm being too philosophical. All I do know is we need to stop Michael tonight, for good." Sheriff Doyle spoke with intense determination.

"First let's see what kind of lead Dr. Locke has," Detective Vega said as they both reached the doors to his car. "Then we'll worry about stopping Myers," He said as the sheriff hopped into the car first. "I have a feeling we're going to need a lot more than a revolver and a ballistic vest though." The detective added under his breath as he patted his ballistic vest for good luck.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Two more chapters until this is caught up! Thanks for the reading and thanks for the kudos!


	9. The Hillcrest Academy Murders

"Wow, it's really coming down now huh?" Tori noted as she stared out from the safety of the parking garage, watching the few pedestrians on the street hurry to find cover.

"Yeah that is how rain works Vega," Jade spat as passed the brunette with a nudge.

The goth led her group of friends into the mall, the party already in full swing. The main dance floor spread out in front of them, covering the majority of the mall lobby. To the far back right led to a part of the mall that was sectioned off by a bouncer, the sign reading 'twenty-one and over', which Jade had her sights on.

"Robbie!" Cat said loudly as she tried to talk over the music. "C'mon, let's dance!"

"D-dance?" Robbie repeated as his eyes widened. "I don't know, I'm not a great dancer." He added, looking down at his feet.

"Don't worry, I'll teach you!"

Before Robbie had a chance to object, the redhead grabbed him by the hand and whisked him away, the both of them disappearing into the crowded dance floor.

"Ready, bro?" Andre asked his best friend.

"For?" Beck replied, trying to delay the inevitable.

"You know what for!" Andre snapped back. "We practice this at Tori's, now, let's go find us some ladies!"

Beck looked to the girls for help but Jade just ignored him and Tori waved goodbye with a smile. As Beck and Andre disappeared into the crowd, Jade turned back around and realized who was left.

"Why is it that whenever the group splits off I am always the one stuck with you?" Jade questioned, seemingly annoyed.

"Maybe it's because you wanna be," Tori suggested, causing the goth to roll her eyes. "So what do you wanna do?"

"I need a drink," Jade said simply, heading for the 'twenty-one and over' area.

Tori, who had followed closely behind, pulled Jade to a stop before she reached the bouncer.

"Hey, we can't go back there."

"No,  _you_ , can't go back there," Jade explained, pulling an I.D. out of her bra. "This says I can," she added with a devilish smirk.

"A fake I.D. Jade? Really?"

"You want to say it louder? I don't think the bouncer heard you."

"Jade you're going to get in trouble!"

"Don't be such a goody-two-shoes, Vega."

"Fine, you're right," Tori said, closing the distance between them.

"Of course I'm right, who do you think you're talking to?" Jade gloated, unaware of what Tori was doing. Tori snatched the I.D. out of her hand and retreated back a bit. "Hey! Give that back!" She shouted as she tried to take it back, but Tori was too quick.

"You're not getting kicked out of the party Jade! This is supposed to be a fun time!" Tori chastised, stuffing the I.D. into her bra triumphantly, thinking she won.

"Is that supposed to stop me?" Jade asked, unimpressed.

"Well…. Yeah. I kinda… figured it would…" Tori trailed off as her triumph turned into something else entirely.

"Vega, you stole that from me, so I will give you two seconds to give it back, or I'm taking it back myself," Jade said sternly, her arms crossed.

"Wait a sec-"

"ONE."

"Jade-"

"TWO."

Tori took off running as fast as she could in her out, barely weaving in between partygoers, with Jade hot on her trail. They sped past the dance floor, heading into the part of the mall that was closed down for the party. Tori glanced back as she rounded a corner, seeing the goth still behind her but missing the wet floor sign in front of her. She let out a yelp as she lost her footing, her skin scraping against the linoleum floor. She groaned, looking down and seeing the red splotches across her chest.

"Are you done now?" Jade inquired as she came to a stop, looming over the brunette.

"Yes," Tori said weakly, defeated. Jade held her hand out and Tori reached up and pulled herself to her feet. "Thanks."

"You're welcome but I wanted my I.D. back," The goth revealed to the annoyance of Tori.

"Fine, you win." Tori conceded, reaching for the I.D. "Um, uh oh."

"'Uh, oh?' What do you mean 'uh, oh'?"

"It must have fallen out when I was running around," Tori revealed.

"Bullshit," Jade insisted, trying to call out Tori's bluff.

"I'm serious!" Tori replied, seeing the look of disbelief on the goth's face. "You want to check for yourself?! I mean you  _already_ basically threatened to molest me anyway."

"Don't be weird, Vega," Jade said, regretting her earlier phrasing.

"You're the one who said i-"

"Are you going to help me look or not!?" Jade interrupted, wanting to change the subject. The brunette nodded, walking away from Jade with an unreadable expression.

Jade started backtracking their route, looking for her precious fake I.D. She kept behind Tori but was still able to notice the strange way she was acting, and Jade couldn't shake the need to help.

"Hey," Jade greeted as she walked up to Tori, unsure if she even wanted to talk to her.

"Hi," Tori answered back in an indistinguishable tone, not stopping her search for Jade's I.D.

"Listen Vega, that stupid shit I said before, I didn't mean it okay?" Jade said, crouching down next to Tori. "I would never do anything like that."

"I know, Jade," Tori replied, finally looking at Jade with a smile.

"Wait," Jade stopped, confused. "Then why are you acting all weird?"

Tori sighed, embarrassed. "Maybe because I fell face first and slid halfway down a mall corridor in front of my- in front of you," Tori cringed, hoping Jade would ignore her slip up.

"Yeah, that was pretty humiliating," Jade agreed with a smirk.

"Shut up," Tori said playfully, shoving the goth a bit.

"So, we good?" Jade asked even though she didn't know why she did, she never worried about being 'good' with Vega before.

"Of course."

"Good, because if we don't find that I.D. you owe me a hundred dollars."

"WHAT?! I don't have-"

The lights above them shut down, cutting the brunette off mid sentence and leaving both girls in complete darkness. Tori reached out and instinctively grabbed Jade's hand, squeezing it. The brunette stood up to her feet, bumping into someone behind her. She screamed as the lights suddenly kicked back on, revealing the security guard behind her.

"You kids shouldn't be here. The mall closed early, get back to the party or leave," the security guard ordered.

The girls each let go of the other's hand, embarrassingly looking anywhere but at each other.

[...]

The detective hastily made his way through the police station, unsure why the station had such a small amount of officers in it. He put that to the back of his mind as he finally reached the elevator, heading downstairs to meet the medical examiner.

"Dr. Locke?" The detective called out as he reached her office.

"Detective Vega, that was fast," Dr. Locke noted, pulling up something on her computer. "Look at this."

"You got a hit on the blood from the crime scene?"

"The problem is, the case is sealed." Dr. Locke revealed to the dismay of the detective. "I sent in an inquiry but you know how those usually go."

"Have you taken this to the captain yet?"

"No, I've been waiting for you. Besides, he has his hands full right now, no visitors." Dr. Locke noticed the confused look on the detective's face. "You know about the riot right? The storm is causing blackouts across the city and the captain's worried that the riot downtown is only the beginning."

"The riot was downtown? Nothing in Burbank?"

"No, not that I know of. But like I said, everyone thinks it's only going to get worse from here on out."

"Thanks, keep me updated on the inquiry. I need to make a call."

"Of course."

Detective Vega pulled out his phone as he entered the elevator.

"C'mon, pick up, pick up." He muttered to himself as he waited anxiously.

"You've reached Tori Vega but I can't answer the phone right now. Listen for the beep, you know what to do! Byee!"

"Tori, baby please when you get this call me back. The storm is riling people up and I don't think it's safe for you and your friends to be out. If you're trick or treating right now get indoors, and if you are already inside someplace stay there and stay safe. Call or text me as soon as you can, I will come pick you up. I love you."

Detective Vega hung up and tried again, but this time the call didn't go through. He pocketed the phone in frustration, stepping out of the elevator and towards the exit.

"Michael, you said he's killed in California before right?" Detective Vega asked as soon as he got into the car.

"Yes," Sheriff Doyle hesitated for a moment then continued, "in ninety-eight Michael killed Dr. Loomis' former nurse and raided her files, finding out that his sister was still alive, living in California under a new name. He attacked her at the boarding school she worked at, killing four students and a guidance counselor before Laurie confronted him. She ended up killing who she thought was Michael by chopping his head off with an axe."

"Who she thought was Michael?"

"Laurie got the drop on Michael and knocked him off a balcony. She left him where he fell, thinking it was finally all over. After the paramedics showed up, one took care of Laurie while another one went to check on Michael. But Michael wasn't dead, he ended up crushing that paramedic's throat, knocking him out and switching outfits. The man in the mask that Laurie killed was an innocent father of three."

"That's terrible," the detective lamented, thinking for a moment. "It also means that Michael could be the one who killed those two down in Venice."

"That's what I've been trying to tell you!"

"As far as I was concerned, before this week Michael Myers was just a mass murderer that died in the seventies," Detective Vega said as he started the car. "Are you getting a signal right now?"

The sheriff fished out his phone, shaking his head after the screen lit up.

"Damn it," the detective cursed. "We have to check out Burbank first. Turn the radio on, if anything happens we'll know."

[...]

"I hate punch," Jade spat, turning to Tori who sat across the table from her. "This is all your fault."

"I said I was sorry! We could always do something else," Tori offered, hoping to take Jade's mind off it.

"Yeah, like what?"

"We could…" Tori trailed off, looking around. "We could bob for apples?"

"Sticking my head into a bucket of dirty water that dozens of people drooled into, yeah that sounds like a great time!" Jade exclaimed, her tone dripping with sarcasm. "Anything else you wanna do? Maybe dig through the garbage? Or we could play with some dirty needles!"

"Okay, okay. I get it, no bobbing for apples." Tori hesitated. "We could go dancing?" She added, a hopeful expression plastered on her face.

Jade thought for a moment, swirling around her cup of punch.

"H-hello?" Tori spoke up again after not receiving an answer, worried she did something wrong.

"Su-"

The duo was interrupted by a blonde girl around their age in a strange looking jumpsuit.

"Sorry, but I just had to come over here. Tawny, right?"

"No my name is Tori," the brunette answered back.

"Hi, Tori, I'm Brianna. But I meant your costume," She said with a tiny laugh. "I love it, by the way. It's awesome! I'm kind of a horror movie nerd."

"Oh, yeah right duh sorry. But thank you," Tori spoke quickly, her cheeks turning a bit red, embarrassed.

"You like 'The Scissoring'?"

"Not really a fan of horror movies," Tori stated. "Buuut I have seen it like a thousand times," she added, shooting a look to Jade.

"Not a horror movie buff eh?" Brianna inquired, an idea forming in her head. "Then you probably couldn't guess who I'm supposed to be then, huh Tori?"

"I think I actually might be able to," Tori shot back with a smirk.

"Oh really?" Brianna answered, her own smirk forming. "I bet you don't."

"I bet I do."

"Shake on it?"

"I don't know, I don't have a very good history with bets." Tori answered as she looked at the blonde's outstretched hand, her confidence fading quickly.

"So you're a chicken then," The blonde teased, poking the other girl's arm.

"Am not!" Tori countered, but Brianna remained unswayed. "Alright, Blondie. You're on! What do you want?"

"How about a dance?"

"A dance?" Tori repeated, unsure.

"Yeah, a dance," Brianna said, before looking between Tori and Jade. "Unless you two are… Sorry I'm terrible with social cues, I didn't mean to-"

"Nonono, we aren't on a date or anything. Just friends. Right?" Tori turned to Jade for confirmation, who just shrugged in response.

"Okay, then. A dance it is!" Brianna's giddiness returned instantly. "You got one guess, Tori."

"One? That doesn't seem fair at all."

"Why? Scared of losing?"

"Fine! I got this. You are…"

"Ripley from 'Alien'. Even though you are blonde," Jade muttered under her breath, neither of the girls hearing her.

"A Ghostbuster!" Tori exclaimed triumphantly, to the amusement of the blonde.

"Not even close!" Brianna replied, stifling laughter. "So, I believe you owe me a dance. Shall we?"

Tori looked to Jade, who just looked away with a sour expression on her face. "We shall," she responded with a small smile.

[...]

Jade sat at the same table, observing Tori as she danced with her new 'friend'. She watched intently, unintentionally growling when the blonde's hands roamed a little too much.

"You want me to grab some napkins?" Beck asked, shocking Jade out of her thoughts. She looked down, seeing the remnants of the plastic cup she crumpled in her hand without realizing it.

"How long have you been standing behind me?"

"Long enough to figure out what's going on."

"What's that supposed to mean?" Jade demanded, realizing after how she sounded exactly like her redheaded friend.

"Why don't you just tell her?"

"Tell her what?" The goth nonchalantly looked away, hoping Beck couldn't decipher her expression.

"You know what I'm talking about."

"I have no clue, Beckett."

"Jade, you know I can tell when you're lying."

"I don't need a therapist, go away," She spat, hoping he would just let it go.

"You're right, it's totally healthy to growl and destroy cups as you watch Tori on the dance floor from the shadows," Beck argued, receiving a death glare in return. "Okay, I know that look too. I'll stop talking, but I was just going to say you shouldn't let your stubbornness stop you from being happy."

"How do you know I was the one being stubborn, huh?" Jade inquired causing Beck to give her a knowing look of his own. "Why are you telling me this anyway?"

"I meant what I said, Jade. I just want you to be happy, even if it isn't with me."

Jade opened her mouth to reply but was interrupted by the DJ's voice blaring over the speakers.

"Alright partiers, are you all ready for the cutest couples costume contest?" He asked, getting a roar from the crowd.

"I need four couples from the crowd," He noted, peering into the vast amount of people in front of him. "Alright, Joker and Harley Quinn, get up here! Hmm, the couple from 'Juno', a little dated, but that's all good come on up here. Batman and Catwoman, you're up. Watch out for those two over there." He added, pointing to the Joker and Harley couple already on the stage. "Okay, one more…"

Tori dragged Brianna over to Robbie and Cat, who stood side by side, oblivious to the pair of girls sneaking up on them. Tori crept up right behind Cat, reaching for her sides and tickling the redhead. Cat yelped, spinning around as her hands shot up into the air.

"Tori!-" Cat started, before being cut off.

"Last couple is Popeye and Olive Oyl! Come on up!"

Both Robbie and Cat had a shocked expression on their face, both unsure if they should go up on stage. Tori enlisted the help of her new friend and they both pushed the nerd and the redhead up to the front of the crowd.

"Here we go folks, your four couples. It will be decided by a round of applause, the winner taking home this goody bag of unknown treasures!" The DJ revealed to 'oooo's and 'aww's from the crowd. "Alright let's do this!"

The DJ went down the line, formally introducing the couples in the order they were picked from the crowd, carefully gauging the crowd's reaction. When he finally reached Cat and Robbie, the rest of the gang exploded with cheers, even Jade clapped a bit.

"Alright folks, it came down to the wire, but I think I can say with confidence that the winners are…" He paused, reaching over to his DJ equipment and playing a drum roll sound effect. "POPEYE AND RED HEADED OLIVE OYL!" The DJ announced as the crowd broke out into applause. "I love the retro choice and the crowd did too! Congrats!" The DJ said as he handed Cat the bag. "One last round of applause for our contestants!"

"Oh my God, you guys are adorable!" Brianna gushed, being the first to greet the two after they made their way back to Jade's table. "Sorry, I'm Brianna. Tori's friend." She added, no one in the group noticing Jade's scowl.

"Hi." Both Cat and Robbie said at the same time.

"What did you guys win?" Andre asked, looking for anything to take his mind off his failed quest for a lady friend.

"Let's see here," Robbie said, looking into the bag as Cat held it up. "A Starbucks gift card, an Amazon gift card, that DJ's mixtape, and some candy."

"Ooo what kind of candy?" Cat inquired, peeking into the bag.

"Candy corn."

"Ickk."

"Well, hey, the rain stopped," Tori noted, looking out one of the windows. "We could go trick or trick for a bit!"

"That sounds fun!" Brianna added.

"What, you don't have any of your own friends to hang out with?" Jade said what she was thinking out loud, not necessarily meaning to.

"Jade!" Tori scolded the goth before turning back to Brianna. "Don't mind her."

"No it's okay, truth be told I actually don't have a lot of friends," she divulged. "My sister dragged me here with her boyfriend but I hate being the third wheel. I'd love to go trick or treating with you guys if you'd let me."

"Of course, we'd love to have you join us!" Tori replied, turning to the group. "Right guys?"

"Hey, any friend of Tori's is a friend of ours," Andre said, Beck and Robbie nodding in agreement.

"We should hurry though, before the rain starts again," Beck directed, everybody getting ready to leave.

Jade grunted in response, heading for the door by herself.

"She grows on you," Tori reassured her new friend. "It'll be fun, don't worry."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Apologies for the hiatus, but I'm back. Hope you liked it, thanks for reading!


	10. Tricks and Treats

"I can't believe you haven't gone up to at least  _ONE_ house," Andre said perplexed, sorting through his candy bag and walking alongside his best friend.

"I don't like Halloween," Beck reiterated for what felt like the hundredth time that night as he took a look around.

"That much is clear," Andre replied as he ripped open another candy bar, oblivious to the Canadian boy's alert behavior. "You need to loosen up bro," he added, mouth full of chocolate.

Ahead of them, Brianna, Tori, Cat, and Robbie chatted with each other, enjoying themselves. Jade was even further ahead, leading the way but not participating in the childish festivities. Instead, she used this time by herself to think. She racked her brain, trying to figure out why this new chick was pissing her off so much. She figured she had an idea, but didn't want to admit it. Luckily, she reached the end of the street and turned around, ready to discuss the group's next move instead of thinking about Tori any longer.

"Now what?" Jade asked as the group huddled up at the end of the street.

"One more block, one more block, one more block!" Cat chanted, Robbie and Briana joining in as well.

"I'm up for it!" Tori added as Andre nodding in agreement, still munching on his candy bar.

"Alright, but then we should probably head back," Beck said, stepping up to the front of the group.

"Yeah, wouldn't want to have  _too_  much fun!" Andre replied, digging in his bag for more candy.

"Not what I meant…" The Canadian boy trailed off, noticing everybody else had started crossing the street.

The group approached a bar that occupied the first lot of land on the new block. The bar itself looked shady enough, the huge amount of motorcycles parked out front not helping the situation. Luckily for the group, the only biker out front was a woman, sitting on the motorcycle that was the first in the row. The dark-haired woman remained silent as the group walked by, staring at the group with an unreadable expression.

"Hey, sweetie," the biker woman finally spoke up as Cat passed by, Robbie stopping with her.

"Hi!" Cat greeted back as Robbie nervously watched the group keep walking, oblivious to what was going on.

"What's ya name?"

"I'm Cat, what's yours?" The redhead replied as she studied the woman. The biker chick didn't look to be that much older than her, mid-twenties by Cat's estimation, but the scars and tattoos definitely made her seem more mature.

"Cat? That's a pretty name, Kitty Cat. I'm Queenie."

"Hey, we should probably catch up with the group," Robbie suggested after looking past the woman on the bike and into the alleyway behind her, seeing a man with a matching vest shouting at a smaller man about something Robbie couldn't make out.

"Hey man, we're just talking here," she assured the curly-haired boy before turning back to Cat. "What do you do, Kitty Cat?"

"I'm a student," Cat answered simply.

"That's too bad, you could do real well with us," Queenie purred, putting her hand on the redhead's arm. "College?"

"No, I'm a senior at a high school named Hollywood Arts," Cat said, trying to shrink away from the touch.

"Wait a minute," Queenie said, a smirk forming on her face. "Isn't Hollywood Arts that fancy school for actors and shit?"

"Time to go," Robbie ordered, taking Cat by the hand and heading for the group.

"You sure, babe? We could have a great time if you stayed here," the biker woman asked with a sickening smile, holding on to Cat's other hand.

"Hey, guys! There you are, we were wondering what happened," Tori said as she walked up to Cat and Robbie with the rest of the group behind her, the new audience forcing Queenie to drop Cat's hand quickly. "You guys okay?" She added after seeing the uneasy expressions on her friends' faces.

"We're all good here," Queenie said with a smirk, standing up from the motorcycle. "See ya around, Kitty Cat," she added before heading back to the alley to join her companion.

"What was that about?" Tori inquired.

"Nothing, let's keep going," Robbie answered, hoping that encounter wouldn't ruin the night.

The gang did just that, heading past the shady bar and into the safety of the neighborhood behind it. While the rest of the group was hitting the remaining houses that were still handing out candy, Tori moved past her friends, motioning for Beck to join her at the end of the block while they waited.

"I wanted to talk real quick since you aren't even trick or treating at all anyway. Did you see what happened back there? With Cat, Robbie and that scary biker chick?"

"Not at all, I couldn't take my eyes off those two Frankensteins fighting in that front yard," Beck revealed, smiling at how ludicrous it was to see two grown men dressed up as Frankenstein wrestle each other to the ground in front of a giant crowd.

"Same, but I feel bad we left Cat and Robbie with that weirdo."

"They look fine to me," Beck said, pointing to Cat and Robbie, who were smiling and giggling as they made their way through a spookily-decorated front yard.

"Yeah, I guess it could have been way worse," Tori noted, feeling a bit better. "So what's up with you, huh? Not even  _one_  house this whole time, not one piece of candy! That's preposterous!"

"I told you guys, I don't like-"

"Yeah, yeah you don't Halloween! We  _all_ know that by now! But, why?"

"Why what?"

"Why don't you like Halloween, duh," Tori reiterated, poking his arm. "You dated Jade for so many years, figured Halloween was second nature to you."

"I guess I'm just not feeling it this year," Beck said with a shrug.

"That's not really an answer," the brunette replied with an impressed expression, but Beck was staring off in the opposite direction. She waved her hand in front of his face, getting his attention again. "Whatcha staring at?"

"Tori, if I ask you something, will you promise me not to freak out?"

"Go ooon," the brunette insisted warily with a raised eyebrow.

"I think someone has been hanging around us," Beck divulged, regretting it immediately as Tori's eyes nearly bulged out of her head. "Have you noticed anyone strange following us?"

"Someone is following us!?" She hissed loudly.

"That would be freaking out," Beck pointed out candidly. "Forget I said anything, it's probably nothing. Halloween always puts me on edge, I'm probably just imagining it."

"Hopefully, but maybe we should head back anyway, yeah?"

"Good idea, it's probably gonna start raining again soon," Beck added as he looked up to the sky, dark clouds starting to form.

Tori turned towards the way they needed to go to get back to the mall before freezing in place. "Wait a second," she said as she squinted, trying to focus on a set of hedges further down the block. "Beck, please tell me you don't see that."

"See what?"

"Phew," Tori breathed a sigh of relief as she wiped away the sweat that was starting to form on her forehead. "Thanks for the reassurance."

"No, I don't know where we're looking at to even know what I'm supposed to not be seeing," Beck replied as Tori tensed up again.

"You see the hedges that stick way out onto the sidewalk? Way down the block there? Please tell me I don't see a person standing behind them, staring this way," Tori pleaded, biting her lip nervously. Beck focused his attention ahead. For a moment he was happy not to see anything, but that went away in a split second.

"Uh…" Beck hesitated.

"What?" she grew anxious.

"Yeah, I see that now."

"I told you not to tell me," the brunette whined, her anxiety rising.

"Let's not freak out," Beck tried his best to calm her before the group caught up with them. "It's probably just a Halloween prank. We'll loop around and be back to the mall in no time."

"I'll call my dad, let him know what's going on," Tori said as she dug her phone out of her pocket. "Darn, no signal. Any luck?"

"Hi, guys!" Cat greeted as everyone regrouped, interrupting Tori's question. "Look at what I got!" She added as she showed off her candy haul.

"Is she always this hyper?" Brianna whispered, watching the redhead bounce around the group.

"Almost exclusively," Tori informed the blonde before her mind thought back to her stalker. "Hey is anyone getting a signal right now?" The brunette asked again, this time to the whole group but still having no such luck.

"Is something wrong?" Brianna inquired, noticing her new friend's tense demeanor.

"Just some weirdo pulling a Halloween prank," Tori said, trying to keep everyone calm despite the bad feeling in her stomach. The fact that no one else had a signal only making it worse.

"Time to head back," Beck said, ushering everyone away from where the stalker was last seen.

Tori led the way with Beck on the lookout in the back. The group hustled down the block, hoping to leave their potential stalker behind. After looping around two blocks and Beck seeing no trace of their tail, the group figured they were in the clear. As they started to relax, a bolt of lightning lit up the sky, accompanied by a torrent of rainfall. Tori yelped as the freezing rain water attacked her skin, rushing to a building's canopy for cover, the group following suit.

"How far away are we?" Jade spat as she wiped away the moisture from her face, hating the fact that she got wet.

"Pretty far," Beck noted, watching the heavy raindrops explode on contact with the sidewalk. "We're probably going to need to wait it out."

Jade spun around and took a look at the building they were in front of, seeing that it was a huge office building that was up for sale. "Vega."

"West."

"You have a hairpin on you?"

"No?"

"Damn it, Vega."

"What do you mean 'damn it, Veg-"

"I have one!" Brianna cut in, happily handing Jade her hairpin.

"Of course you do," Jade muttered, snatching the hairpin out of the blonde's hand.

"I believe it's pronounced 'thank you'," Tori replied, rolling her eyes at the goth.

"Thanks," Jade said quietly, focusing on the lock. A smirk formed as it clicked and the door opened. The goth waited, hesitantly waving one hand through the doorway. Convinced there weren't any alarms, she walked in, observing the gigantic lobby.

"You guys coming in?" She asked as she flipped a light switch, no lights turning on. She flipped it back to its original position, realizing the building had no power. Her eyes lit up as an idea formed in her head, "I know how we can pass the time," she said, backing away from the group and going further into the shadows of the building. "Follow me, if you daaaare."

"I don't dare," Cat whispered, shaking her head vehemently.

"I don't either," Tori agreed with her redheaded friend, happy to stay in the lobby. "This looks like a perfectly fine place to wait out the storm."

"I'm down," Andre declared with a mouth full of chocolate.

"Dude, I haven't seen you take a break from eating chocolate all night, you're going to get sick."

"I'm already sick, love sick," Andre answered back. "I'm drowning my sorrows in chocolate, leave me alone! You know what, I don't need to stand here and take this!" He added, changing his mind and heading down the same hallway Jade disappeared into.

"C'mon, it's Halloween," Brianna finally spoke up after Andre was gone. "Being scared is half the fun!"

"It's Jade, she's scary all year round, believe me."

"Then we can get her back!"

"That sounds like a horrible…" Tori trailed off, thinking about all the times Jade has messed with her. "Okay, let's do it!"

"There we go!" Brianna cheered, pulling Tori towards the hallway.

"Another one bites the dust," Beck remarked as she found a chair to sit in, staring at the only other two people left in the lobby.

"What are you thinking, Cat?"

"Why does glue not stick to the bottle it comes in?" Cat replied, leaving a dumbfounded look on both of the boys' faces.

"No I meant, do you want to go with the group or wait here?"

"Oh! Why didn't you just say that, silly?!" Cat questioned with a laugh. "Let's go, I wanna see what happens with Tori and Jade!"

"You coming man?" Robbie asked Beck, who remained seated.

"I think I'll chill here for a bit, you know, enjoy the peace and quiet."

"Oh! You can play bodyguard!" Cat exclaimed wanting to give Beck a 'part' in Jade's game.

"Sure, Cat. I'll keep a lookout," he chuckled at his friend. "You kids have fun."

"KK," she said before trotting down the corridor where the rest of the group went. "Let's go Robbie!"

After Cat and Robbie disappeared as well, Beck pulled his chair around to face the door. He had already re-locked it after everyone entered but he intended to keep watch, to make sure the stalker wasn't still around. He dug out his phone, he had no signal but at least he could play a game to pass the time. He looked at the door as the game loaded, making sure not to slack off on his self-appointed 'guard duty'.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> One more chapter till this story is caught up! Thanks for reading!


	11. The Door At the End of the Tunnel

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> "You've heard of the tunnel. The one we all go through, sooner or later. At the end, there's a door. And waiting for you, on the other side of that door, is either Heaven...or Hell. This is that door."
> 
> \- Laurie Strode

"Then the guy said, 'here are your daughter's glasses, she left them in my car last night.' And the woman said, 'that's not possible, my daughter died ten years ago... wearing those… very… glasses….."

Andre's devious smirk quickly changed to an expression of disappointment and disbelief as he surveyed the faces of everybody else, not one person in the group fazed by his story.

"...so?" Jade spat, finally breaking the awkward silence.

"So? What do you mean so?" Andre answered, offended by not getting the reaction he wanted. "The hitchhiker he picked up was actually a ghost!"

"But why does a ghost need glasses? And why did she need a ride? Can't she just float everywhere?" Tori interjected with questions of her own.

"You know your story isn't scary if Vega is asking a bunch of annoying questions," Jade added.

"Hey!" Tori objected, but Andre continued anyway.

"Whatever my story was great, you're all just a bad audience," he shot back before turning his sights on Jade. "At least mine was  _actually_  a story, instead of whatever the hell you were doing!"

"It was an artistic retelling of the famous Zodiac murders, duh."

"That doesn't count!"

"It was a story and judging by the way you guys reacted, I would definitely say it was scary."

"C'mon guys," Tori intervened with a heavy sigh, tired of all the arguing. "Let's just do something else."

"What about 'truth or dare'?" Brianna suggested with a smile, lightly nudging Tori's side.

"Oooo, that could be fun!" Cat exclaimed as she patted Robbie's shoulder. "Wanna play?"

"Sure, why not?" Robbie answered, a bit nervous.

"Okay, Jade," Tori spoke with confidence. "Truth… or  _daaare?_ " She added, trying her best to sound spooky.

The goth rolled her eyes, "truth, I guess."

"Hmm," the brunette feigned deep thought, stroking her chin. "I got something. What are you afraid of, Jade? Like what scares you, deep down inside?"

"Nothing," Jade responded with a shrug. "Okay, Harris, truth or-"

"Hey, wait! You gotta answer!" Tori argued. "Those are the rules."

"I did," Jade shot back, "it isn't my fault you don't like the answer."

"That wasn't an answer, you completely dodged the question," Tori said before exhaling lightly, trying to calm herself. "C'mon Jade, everyone's afraid of something."

"For me, it's spiders. Oh, and clowns," Brianna said nonchalantly. "...what?" she added, seeing the looks she was getting from the rest of the group.

"What about spider-clowns?" Cat asked with a serious look on her face.

"Oh my God," Brianna squealed, horrified at the thought.

"Can't we just move on already?" Jade spat, growing more and more annoyed.

"Sure!" Tori said swiftly. "As soon as you answer my question."

"I already answered your stupid que-"

"I'll ask a question," Andre interrupted. "Jade, why do you hate Tori so much?"

"What? I don't  _hate_  Vega," Jade answered, pointing to the brunette.

"Then why are you always on her case?" Robbie asked, jumping into the conversation but backing down after the goth shot him a death glare.

"I just… ugh," Jade trailed off before thinking to herself for a moment. After, she quickly turned back to Tori. "Dare."

"What?" The brunette replied, utterly confused.

"I chose dare."

"You can't do that!"

"Just did."

"You're breaking the rules agai-" Tori started, only stopping after Brianna leaned in close to her ear. She shifted in her seat a bit, trying to shake away the shiver up in her spine and focus on what the blonde girl was saying.

"What the hell is going on?" Jade blurted out, interrupting whatever the two were planning.

"Okay, Jade," Tori replied with a devious smirk, "I dare you to go up to the top floor of this building by yourself, and stay there for the next half an hour," Tori observed the look on Jade's face before she continued. "What? You aren't afraid of the dark are you?"

Jade scoffed as she stood up, "it's stupidly obvious you two are planning something."

"Nefarious planning? Me? Jade, I would never do such a thing," Tori replied back in an innocent tone, getting a grunt in response as the goth made her exit.

 

[...]

 

Jade wore a sour expression on her face as she climbed her way up to the top floor of the building. She was thinking of different ways to get her revenge as she reached the top step, losing her balance in the process. She slipped backward, but her quick reflexes allowed her to grab the railing just in time to save herself from taking a dangerous trip back down where she just came from. After regaining her composure and carefully making it back to the top step, she used the light from her phone to see what she stepped in, her eyes following a trail of red liquid that led to the door in front of her. She approached the door with caution, her brain telling her to just turn around and go back but her pride forcing her forward. The door creaked open with ease, the handle broken off in the same way as the door on the first floor that led her to the stairwell. The goth stepped out into the shadowy lobby of the top floor, finding a new sense of determination to win the dare.

Still wielding her phone as her only light source, she continued following the mysterious trail until she ended up in what seemed to be an old office space. She squinted, trying to see in the darkness. A pile of boxes filled the far corner of the room, Jade figured it was probably just junk left over after whoever rented this place moved out. The only other thing of interest she found was a couple of desks in the middle of the room. She turned her attention back to the trail she was following, finally finding the source.

"Fucking vandals," she spat, finding an enormous amateur graffiti piece on one of the walls. With her curiosity sated, she made her way back to the middle of the room. She brushed the dusty chair off before taking a seat and pulling out her phone. It didn't take long, however, for her conscience to invade her thoughts.

_Why is Brianna getting under my skin so damn much?_  Jade asked herself, even though she already knew the answer to that. She dropped her head down on the desk and silently cursed herself,  _Beck was right, I am so fucking stubborn...... Well, not anymore. Jade West will not be so difficult all the time. I won't be a gank, at least to people who don't deserve it. And it starts with Vega._

"Just tell her… just tell her how you feel," she barely muttered, terrified at the thought.

She let out a heavy sigh,  _when did this all happen?_   _It used to be so simple. Drink coffee, chill with Beck, watch Robbie make an ass of himself over Cat. Rinse and repeat. Then Vega had to arrive and turn everything upside down. She couldn't just take a hint. With her sickeningly-sweet personality and her 'must-help-all-my-friends-all-the-time' attitude. After everything I did to her, she just had to keep coming back. Everything just bounces right off of her. And to top it all off, I just had to fall for h-_

A box in the corner fell to the floor, drawing Jade's attention as she shot up out of the chair. "Beck?" She called out, seeing the outline of a person in the darkness, their white mask barely visible.

She used the flashlight on her phone to illuminate that corner of the room, her stomach dropping as she realized the mask wasn't Beck's. "Who the fuck are you?" She questioned, reaching for her steel pair of scissors she always kept on her.

Jade was deciding what to do next when she figured out what was going on. "This is part of the dare, isn't it? 'Oh, Jade thinks nothing scares her.' Sooo, what? You get Brianna's sister to try and scare me? Or maybe this is her sister's boyfriend she mentioned in her sob story?" She took a quick look around the room, expecting to see Tori trying to hide somewhere. "You can come out now, your little trick didn't work."

With her back turned, the figure moved across the room quickly, grabbing Jade by the shoulder. She struggled to wrestle free, but her attacker's grip was too secure. Jade turned herself around to twist away from the masked assailant, and with a rip of her sleeve, she was free. Jade was flung back by the momentum she had built up, sending her flying over the desk behind her.

"Damn it," Jade groaned from the floor before what just happened fully hit her, and she jumped to her feet. "What the fuck…" She backed away from the desk, seeing no one else in the room with her. She hurried out of the room and towards the stairs, all resolutions gone and ready to give Tori a piece of her mind.

 

[...]

 

"So what ya thinkin'?" Brianna asked giddily, following Tori into the stairwell. "That's weird," she noted the shattered doorknob as they walked past it.

"Um, I don't know. Maybe we shouldn't do anything else, I mean, the dare's enough right?" The brunette reasoned, to Brianna's disappointment.

"I thought you wanted to scare her?"

"I did!" Tori answered, before sighing a bit. "But she seemed pretty darn angry. Maybe it'd be best to not poke the bear anymore."

"I mean, it's entirely up to you," Brianna conceded, before continuing, "what are we doing now then?"

"I just want to check in on her," Tori informed her friend, "she's been gone a while."

"'Check up on her,' huh?" Brianna teased with a smirk.

"What does that mean?"

Brianna sped up the rest of the stairs past Tori and stopped at the third floor landing. She was waiting for Tori when she thought she saw a shadow past by the small window in the door that led out of the stairwell.

"Hey?" Tori spoke up after finally catching up, breaking Brianna out of her trance. "You back on Earth? Why did you charge up here?"

"Yeah, sorry," Brianna responded, returning her focus back to Tori. "I have a theory."

"A theory?" Tori repeated with a furrowed brow. "Now what does  _that_  mean?"

"Do you trust me?"

"Trust you? Brianna, what's going on?" Tori inquired, a knot of nervousness forming in the pit of her stomach.

"I know we just met but-"

Tori placed a hand on the blonde girl's shoulder, reassuring her. "Yes, I trust you," she said with a smile. "Now will you let me in on whatever you are scheming here?"

"Okay," Brianna replied with a smile of her own, then leaned in, pulling Tori in close by her waist.

Tori's eyes widened and her cheeks turned red as she realized what was happening. Their lips met as the brunette's head spun, all her conflicting feelings that she was trying to suppress were immediately brought back to the surface.

"Brianna," Tori said softly as she pulled away. "I'm sorry, I-" She looked up to see the peculiar expression on her friend's face. "Wait a second… You weren't actually trying to make a move on me, were you?" Tori added, her face turning even more red than before.

"Like I said, it was just a theory," Brianna answered, her hand still touching her bottom lip. "And if I happened to be wrong, and you kissed back, that wouldn't have been the end of the world either." She added with a wink. "So, you really like her, huh?"

Tori turned away, trying not to seem so transparent, "I guess you could say I-"

"Where the  **FUCK**  do you get off messing with me like that, Vega?!" Jade boomed, causing both girls to jump out of their skin as she came barreling down the stairs.

"Jade!? You scared the chiz outta us! Were you standing there the whole time?" Tori breathed out, before realizing the state Jade was in. "What's wrong? What happened to your costume?"

"I know what you did, Vega!" Jade argued, stepping up to the brunette. Tori backed away a bit with guilt, thinking Jade was talking about the kiss.

"Jade-"

"No, Tori," Brianna interrupted, stepping in between the two. "Jade it was my fault, don't blame Tori for what I did."

"I figured, since it was your friend," Jade spat. "But this is between Vega and me," the goth added as she brushed past Brianna. "What is your problem?"

"My friend?" Brianna repeated as she realized Jade must not have seen them kiss. "What are you talking abo-"

Tori interrupted, fed up with Jade's attitude, and stepped up to the goth, " _my_  problem? What about you! You've been nothing but a GANK to Brianna and me this whole night! She's been nothing but nice to you all night but it seems like you hate her guts!"

Jade's train of thought came to an abrupt end, thrown off by Tori's strong response, her anger quickly dissipating and being replaced with remorse. Meanwhile, no one noticed as the door to the rest of the floor slowly opened behind Brianna.

Jade thought back to her earlier resolution, "shit, I'm sorry, okay?" she conceded, tired of being so stubborn. "I don't hate you, Tori. You neither, Brianna." She added as she turned back to face the blonde. "Brianna?"

Brianna stood in the doorway, unnervingly still as the absolute darkness behind her threatened to envelop her completely. She held her hands clenched in shaky fists, her back almost unnaturally arched. Her expression was unreadable, and her eyes seemed glazed over, staring off into nothing.

"Brianna!" Tori called out, and the blonde turned her attention to her friend.

"Tori," Brianna whispered, reaching her hand out.

Tori stepped forward but stopped as Brianna let out a blood-curdling scream. The two girls watched in horror as she was lifted up off the ground, seemingly floating in mid-air until a masked figure emerged from the darkness behind her. Jade's stomach dropped, recognizing him as the person who attacked her earlier.

Brianna gritted her teeth as she was lifted even higher, her body painfully sliding back farther onto the blade. Tori and Jade recoiled in horror as the point of the knife now stuck out of Brianna's costume, unable to believe their eyes. Brianna tried to say something, anything, but the blood collecting in the back of her throat prevented her from doing so. She coughed the blood up farther, it spilling over her lips as she felt the dusty air of the building reach her lungs. Thankfully, the pain was subsiding, but she was slipping away into unconsciousness. She mustered up all the energy she had left and pointed to the stairs.

"RUN!"

Tori and Jade broke into a sprint down the stairs as the figure ripped the knife out of Brianna's back, her body crumbling to the floor in a bloody heap. The masked killer made his own way towards the stairs, methodically taking each step at a time, fresh blood dripping off his blade. The girls reached the first floor in record time, both of them slamming into the stairwell door due to their momentum. Tori watched the stairs behind them while Jade got the door open, praying that whoever that was stayed upstairs. She let out a small yelp as Jade dragged her out of the stairway and into the hallway.

"What the FUCK was that?" Jade exclaimed as she shut the door behind them and the two of them took a moment to collect their breath. "What the  **fuck!** "

Tori bent down with one hand on her knee and the other over her mouth, "I-I don't-" She stopped herself, fearing that anymore talking would result in her stomach contents littering the floor beneath her. She bit down hard on her bottom lip, trying to fight back the tears as Brianna's last moments played over and over again in her mind.

"Tori," Jade patted her lightly on the back, pointing down the hallway. Andre stood doubled over, clutching his midsection. The girls hurried down to him, worried their friend was injured by the same maniac.

"Andre!" Jade whispered, not wanting to draw attention to themselves. "What happened? Are you hurt?"

"Yeah!" Andre responded loudly. "All that chocolate is coming back to haunt me!" He added, groaning as he complained.

"Shhh!"

Andre's mouth hung open in shock after both girls shushed him, and as soon as he tried to speak again, Jade leaped forward.

With one hand over Andre's mouth, Jade needed to get the message across to the musician, "Listen, Brianna is dead. The killer is somewhere in the building still. Where is everyone else?"

Andre looked to Tori, hoping that this was one of Jade's sick jokes, but the look on her face told him everything he needed to know. "Uhh, umm, shit." Andre stuttered as his mind started racing and his heart started pounding through his chest. "Cat um, Cat wanted to go exploring, but Robbie and I stopped her. Then I got sick and by the time I got back they were gone, she probably dragged Robbie on one of her 'adventures.'"

"Fuck," Jade cursed in a low tone, "what about Beck?"

"He wasn't at the front door the last time I checked, maybe he went with Cat and Robbie?"

"Shitshitshit, okay," Jade tried her best to keep it together. "Okay, here's the plan, you and Andre go get help. Flag down a car, get back to the mall, something like that."

"What are you gonna do?" Tori questioned, finally joining the conversation.

Jade took a deep breath, "I'll stay and look for the rest of the group," she announced with determination.

"Jade!" Tori croaked, a little louder than she liked. "You can't," she continued as her voice returned to a whisper, "it's too dangerous!"

"I can't leave Cat," Jade insisted, "if something happened to her…" The goth stopped and shook her head, trying to fight away the thoughts.

"Okay," Tori nodded, coming to terms with what Jade was saying, "then I'm staying too."

"Tori-"

"Don't," the brunette cut her off, "after what we just saw, no way am I leaving you here."

Jade nodded, knowing there was no use in arguing.

"Both of you are fucking nuts!" Andre whispered, before conceding. "But you're right, we can't just leave them. Are you sure you two want me to go get help instead of helping you?"

Both girls nodded in agreement as the door next to them exploded in a flurry of splinters, the masked figure now standing between the girls and Andre, seemingly unaffected.

"Go!"

Andre sprinted for the exit, while Tori and Jade ran back farther into the building. The figure stood in the middle of the hallway, looking both ways slowly, before following the fleeing boy.

Andre hustled down the hallway, fighting what was left of all the chocolate he ate from earlier attempting to come back up again. He rounded the corner to the front door, barreling into someone in the process. He stood up quickly, ready to fight for his life.

"Robbie," Andre exhaled deeply, relieved beyond belief, "dude, where's Cat?"

The curly-haired nerd shuffled nervously, "Uhh, kind of an awkward story."

"And any other time I would be happy to make fun of you about this, but shit is going down and I need to know where Cat is," Andre asked again, as he started dragging Robbie towards the door.

"I dunno," Robbie revealed, "we kinda... kissed, then she ran off without saying anything. I think she went to find Jade. Why, what happened? Is something wrong?"

"Oh yeah, very wrong," Andre stopped as they reached the front door. "Brianna is dead. The killer literally shattered a door right in front of me and Jade and Tori want me to get help. Well, us now. We need to go!"

"What?" Robbie questioned, almost laughing out of disbelief. "That can't be right. Are you messing with me?"

"No time to do this, we HAVE to go get help. Right now!" Andre ordered, but Robbie pulled away.

"I'm not leaving Cat," Robbie contended, standing his ground. "Whatever is going on, I'm not leaving her behind!"

Robbie watched Andre's face as his expression changed and turn ghostly white. He looked over his shoulder, a terrible feeling enveloping his entire being. The masked figure at the end of the hall was slowly approaching them. At first, he thought it was Beck, but the way the figure walked completely unnerved him.

"We need to get the fuck outta here!" Andre shouted, pulling Robbie out the door.

"What about Cat?"

"She'll kill me if I let you die, now let's go!"

 

[...]

 

"How are we going find her? We can't exactly go around calling out for her, and there are like three more floors above us that we haven't checked yet," Tori whispered as she crept through the hall.

"We just have to keep-" Jade cut herself short, hearing footsteps coming from the stairs behind them. She found an open room and dragged Tori in with her. Jade crouched near the door, keeping it open a bit so they could see out. The figured stopped just before the doorway, and Jade tightened the grip on her scissors.

"Come out now or I start blastin'," the voice commanded.

Tori recognized the voice immediately as the biker chick from earlier in the night, and stepped out into the hall, "what are you doing her-," she stopped in her tracks and raised her hands above her head. "Don't shoot..."

"Nice to see ya again," Queenie greeted. "Either of you care to explain the dead fucking body upstairs?" she asked, aiming the gun between the girls.

"A-a redhead?" Jade questioned, hoping she wasn't too late finding her friend.

"No, the blonde," Queenie answered, a little taken back. "Are you talking about Kitty Cat? Is she alright? What the hell are you uppity rich kids into?"

"That's who I'm looking for! There's no time for this shit, I need to find her," Jade spat, trying to move past Queenie but stopped when she was looking down the barrel of her gun.

"It looks like I'm the one with the gun here," Queenie asserted, backing Jade down. "So answer my question then we can find OUR friend." She added, meeting the goth's glare with a smile.

"There is a psychopath somewhere in the building and we just want to find our friends!" Tori spoke up, tired of wasting time. "He's already killed one of our friends, we need to use your cell phone to call for help!"

"I don't have one."

"What?" Jade interrupted, "who doesn't have a cell phone."

"I don't need one, Mac takes care of me." Queenie divulged, speaking too quickly. "You kids wouldn't understand." She added after seeing the looks from Tori and Jade.

"Whatever, can we go now?" Jade said, getting ready to fight back if her request was denied.

"Alright, let's go," Queenie caved, walking past the two girls and leading the way.

Jade and Tori looked to each other, neither one sure of what to do next. The goth motioned towards the other end of the hall, while Tori shook her head in response.

"She has a gun, Jade," Tori whispered.

"Yeah, which she just held us up with, Vega." Jade snapped back.

"I don't trust her either, Jade, but if we see that psycho again, I'd feel safer hiding behind someone with a gun."

Queenie turned around, finally noticing she had been talking to no one, "hey, you guys coming or what?"

Tori shot Jade a knowing look, going ahead to join Queenie.

"Damn it," Jade mumbled, still unsure about following the chick who was probably planning on robbing them at some point. She stomped her foot in frustration before finally following Tori's lead. By the time she caught up, both Queenie and Tori stood frozen in place. "What's goin-"

"Is that him!?" Queenie asked, her gun aimed down at the end of the hall at a figure in the darkness.

"I don't know!" Tori answered frantically, "he was wearing a white mask but it's too dark to see."

Queenie saw a glimpse of white reflect as the figure came out from the light and opened fired.

"Wait!" Tori shouted as she recognized the costumed person emerging from the darkness.

"NOOO!" Jade screamed at the same time, grabbing Queenie's arm and pushing it upwards. But it was too late, the shots hit their mark. Jade rushed down the hall, leaving Tori and Queenie behind her.

"What's her problem? I got him."

"Oh no," Tori muttered, running to Jade. "God da…" The brunette stopped beside Jade, tears starting to fill her eyes. Beck was sprawled out on the floor, three bullet holes spread across his body, while the fourth pierced his neck. Tori bent down to check for a pulse but Jade shook her head, it was of no use. Tori buried her face in her hands, wishing she could wake up from this nightmare.

"Shit," Queenie said as she caught up, "I thought it was the killer you guys were talking about. I didn't even know there was someone else with a white mask. I swear to God, I didn't mean to kill a kid. No one was supposed to get hurt."

"It doesn't fucking matter!" Jade snapped with a deadly glare. "You killed him, whatever bullshit you spew to help yourself feel better isn't going to bring him back."

"Fuckfuckfuck! It was supposed to be a simple job, hold up the kids, wait for Mac, and leave before the cell towers started working again. That's it. No one gets hurt, just some rich kids getting their pockets picked," Queenie mumbled to herself as she paced back and forth, her hands rubbing her temples as she tried to think. "You know it was an accident, right Tori? You know I didn't mean to do this."

Tori turned to answer but screamed as she jumped back, the masked figure standing right behind Queenie. Jade scrambled back as well, slipping on Beck's blood. Queenie turned around on instinct to see what the problem was, horrified as she came face to face with the killer. She tried raising the gun in defense but she was picked up off the ground by the throat. She kicked and thrashed in the air, causing the killer to slam her against the wall.

Tori watched the gun drop at Queenie's feet and crawled towards it as fast as she could. She snatched the gun from the floor, but her victory was short-lived, the killer dropped the knife in his other hand and caught her by her hair. Tori cried out as she was forcefully brought up to her feet, then choked as the killer wrapped his hand around her throat as well.

"Tori!" Jade yelled, her quick thinking led to her rushing to the knife on the floor and immediately driving it into the assailant's arm.

The figure dropped Queenie, her body slumping down against the wall, but still breathing. Then he launched Tori with one hand, her entire frame smashing through a wooden door across the hall. The figure then looked to his shoulder, studying the blade still stuck in it with a tilted gaze while Jade scurried off. She ran to Tori, who was still lying motionless in the room she landed in. After finding a pulse, she started rummaging through the broken pieces of the door, trying to find the gun. She turned back towards the hallway just in time to see the killer raise Queenie back up again, ending her life with a vicious slash across the throat. Jade looked back to Tori, who still showed no sign of waking up.

"Hey, asshole!" Jade taunted as she left the room and entered the hallway. "Come and get me, motherfucker!" She goaded the killer as she slowly backed up. She made her way down the hall, never taking her eyes off the killer so she could be sure he wouldn't go back for Tori. Once she reached the stairs, she sped up to another floor.

"I'm so sorry," Jade said solemnly as she stepped over Brianna's body.

She entered the lobby, frantically trying doors until she found one that was unlocked. She lightly shut it behind her, keeping her ear pressed to the door. She held her breath, listening as the steady footsteps filled the hallway. She placed her hands over her mouth, not wanting to give away her hiding spot as the steps stopped just outside her door. The goth waited for what seemed like an eternity, but finally, the footsteps continued down the hall until they disappeared. Jade slowly opened the door, peeking out to make sure the coast was clear. With no one in sight, she stepped out and started carefully making her way back to the stairs. She reached the end of the hall, but something made Jade stop in her tracks, a faint sound that made her stomach drop. She ran over to the door closest to her, struggling to open it but when she did, the sight ripped her heart out. Cat laid in a pool of her blood whimpering to herself, the blood coming from a wound on her stomach.

"Cat!" Jade cried out as she fell to the floor, cradling the wounded redhead in her lap. She was cold to the touch, and Jade could see her lip quiver as her jaw chattered. Jade lifted Cat's shirt to get a better look at the damage, instantly regretting it. She looked down at the redhead with tears in her eyes, knowing there wasn't anything she could do.

"Hey, Jadey," Cat said meekly, blood dripping out of the sides of her mouth. "I finally found you, I was looking everywhere for you..."

"Yeah, Cat, I'm right here, I'm right here. I'm not going anywhere," Jade replied to her best friend, holding her slightly upright so she didn't choke.

"Robbie is gonna be so mad at me," Cat said after a coughing fit, her breathing becoming more shallow. "We kissed, and I ran, again. He must hate me."

"No, no he doesn't," Jade assured her, the goth's voice slightly cracking. "He loves you. I love you so much Kitty Cat. We all do. " She added before breaking down, tears streaming down her face as she couldn't hold back the sobs any longer. As she tried to compose herself, she noticed Cat's eyes were closed and she wasn't moving anymore. Panicking, she shook the redhead lightly, hoping she would come back. "Cat, please… Not you too."

To her surprise, Cat's eyes fluttered open again, "J-Jadey? I was looking all over the place for you. I wanted to talk about Robbie, I think he's mad at me."

Before Jade could reply, Cat's eyes closed again as her breathing hitched. Jade collapsed with a pained sob, still clutching on to her dead best friend. She sniffled, pushing the rest of her emotions aside as she heard footsteps directly behind her. She felt the hair on the back of her neck stand up, and her gut was screaming at her to run. Jade eyed the balcony as a last resort, but with the door behind her, she knew her only option. Heavy breathing filled the room as Jade set her best friend's body down gently, readying her pair of scissors. She hopped up and spun around, driving her scissors towards whoever was behind her.

The masked murderer caught her wrist with ease, twisting it as Jade howled in agony and dropped her weapon. But the goth wasn't going down without a fight, she threw a wild punch that connected with the killer's chin. Jade looked on in shock as the killer shrugged it off and picked her up with one hand. She struggled wildly, trying to scratch and claw her way out. The killer raised her up even higher, forcing the goth out of reach to do any damage to the masked killer's eyes. 

Meanwhile, Tori came crashing into the room at full speed, "Oh my God," the brunette lamented for a second as she noticed Cat's lifeless body sprawled out on the floor. She focused herself, seeing Jade losing her fight against the killer. She quickly raised the gun and fired, but the killer was only nudged forward a bit as the bullet hit his shoulder blade.

"A-again!" Jade croaked.

Tori breathed out as she aimed again, this time the bullet hit the killer in the middle of the back. He released Jade, who scrambled back onto the balcony, and collapsed to the floor. Jade, still clutching her neck, used the railing on the balcony to help herself stand, the rusted railing creaking from the pressure.

Jade slowly made her way over to the killer, kicking his boot with her own, trying to get a reaction.

"Is he dead?" Tori asked from the other side of the room.

"I don't know," Jade answered, studying the body from a comfortable distance. She couldn't see if his eyes were open, his face shrouded in darkness under the mask. He also didn't look like he was breathing, but Jade couldn't be sure of that either.

"Well get over here so we can leave!"

"How?" Jade questioned, looking around the room. "And before you say it, no. There is no way I'm stepping over his fucking body."

"How else are you going to…" Tori trailed off, seeing Jade back up. "Jade we're on the third floor!"

"I think I can make it," Jade defended her theory from the balcony, noting how it wasn't a straight drop off. "I can slide down the roof and land in the alleyway."

"Or you land on your neck and die, Jade! Please, just get over here. Jump over him or something, let's just go!" Tori pleaded, not wanting to stay in the room any longer than she had to.

Jade took one last look over the railing, "Fuck it." She cursed before turning to the brunette, "if he so much as twitches, unload that fucking thing, got it?" The goth ordered, Tori giving her a nod in response and readying the gun.

Jade took a deep breath to prepare herself, but before she could even get started the killer sat up, grabbing Jade by her ankle. She screamed and tried to break free, holding on to the balcony railing for support.

"Shoot the fucker!" Jade screamed out, clinging onto the railing for her life.

Tori pulled the trigger, expecting the kickback and the deafening boom of the gun to fill the room once more. Instead, the revolver let out a measly 'click,' over and over again as she squeezed the trigger. She ditched the gun, spotting the scissor on the ground and dashed to pick it up. Now with a weapon, she charged with lightning speed and drove the scissors down on the killer, which stuck out into the top of his shoulder.

Jade, now freed, was flung forward towards the balcony, breaking through the corroded railing and disappearing from view.

"Jade!" Tori shouted, taking a step towards the balcony.

The brunette stopped in her tracks as the killer rose back up once again, the scissors hitting the floor with a loud 'clank.' She looked around him to make sure Jade was definitely gone, then broke into the sprint for the stairs.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> All caught up! Thanks for reading!


	12. No Good Deed

The two boys came sliding to a stop at the end of the street, exhausted from fighting the strong crosswind and torrent of rainfall that still pelted them.

 

“I... think… we’re good,” Andre choked out in between breaths, doubled over with his hands on his knees as the rain washed over him.

 

Robbie tried to fight back the feeling of dread mounting in the pit of his stomach, his gaze fixated back towards the direction they came from, “I hope Cat’s okay…” He mumbled.

 

“She will be, as long as we can get help,” Andre reassured his friend before taking his phone out. “Damn it, my battery’s dead. What about you, any luck?”

 

The curly-haired boy dug out his phone, careful enough to shield it as best as he could from the rain. “I got a signal!” Robbie exclaimed, dialing as fast as he could. “C’mon, pick up, pick up!”

 

Andre took a step off the curb, trying to flag down a car barreling down the road. “Thanks a lot!” He shouted as the vehicle whizzed by without a second thought.

 

“No! I need help now! Listen to me!! Hello? HELLOO?!”

  
“What’s going on?” Andre asked as he made his way back to Robbie, who put the call on speaker.

 

_“We’re sorry, the weather conditions in the greater Los Angeles area are heavily affecting all phone services right now. It appears all of our available lines are currently in use. Please stay on the line as one of our operators becomes available.”_ The robotic voice told them, much to their dismay.

 

“Shit,” Andre cursed, running a hand through his hair.

 

“We have to go back, right?” Robbie questioned, starting towards the office building they came from.

 

“No,” Andre reached out and stopped him, “we still need to get help. Stay on the line. But for now, help me flag down someone.”

 

“Is that a good idea? We’ve only seen one car since we’ve been out here.”

 

“What else can we do? Going back there doesn’t change the situation, and they’re counting on _us_ to get help, Rob…”

 

Robbie thought for a moment, “the mall! The party might still be going on, they could help us!”

 

Andre poked Robbie in the chest as the gears in his head started turning, “And if it isn’t, Beck’s car is still there; we could go get help ourselves! Good idea, let’s go!”

  


[...]

  


“Son of a bitch,” Jade groaned as she slowly came to with a migraine; her mind trying to make sense of everything that had happened over the last few hours. Droplets rhythmically bounced off whatever metal that was shielding her from the rainfall, and for a moment, in the darkness, she almost felt at peace.

 

That was until her mind wandered back to Cat and Tori. Fighting back tears, she ordered herself back on her mission to save the brunette. And with that in mind, the goth finally stirred, moving her body piece by piece, hoping she didn’t break anything in the fall. She was grateful she could still move all of her limbs, and all she could find in the darkness that surrounded here were plastic bags. Concluding she successfully landed in the dumpster she aimed for as she rolled off the roof, she brought a hand the back of her head, feeling a liquid that had a different consistency than the rainwater. Although, to her confusion, she could not find a wound. She pulled out her phone, seeing she still didn’t have a signal, and turned the flashlight on.

 

Jade studied the blood on her hand until her attention was drawn somewhere else, “what the fuck?” She whispered, noticing the second pair of legs next to hers, buried under more garbage.

 

She slowly turned to her left, regretting her choice immediately. Jade came face to face with a man with bloody holes where his eyes should have been and an agonized expression frozen on his face. She swore as she sat up, scrambling out of the dumpster as fast as she could.

 

Jade landed feet first before losing her footing, her ankle rolling out from under her with a sickening ‘pop.’ She cried out in pain, slamming a fist down in anger as she writhed on the cold wet concrete. Wiping away the moisture on her face, she struggled to prop herself back to one foot, using the dumpster to support herself.

 

The goth looked farther down the alley, noting a tall chain link fence that separated her from the front of the building. Knowing she couldn’t climb it in her condition, she looked for a different solution. In the opposite direction, she spotted a door that led back inside.

 

“C’mon,” Jade whispered after she limped over to the door. She wrestled with the doorknob until her hands numbed, but the door wouldn’t budge. She took a step back, looking around for something that could force the door open when the light from a shop flickering across the alleyway caught her eye.

 

Jade dragged herself over as fast as she could, crossing the street and rushing right up to the shop’s window and pounding on it with all her might. The shopkeeper hurried over to the door, unlocking it soon after seeing the bloodied and bruised condition the poor girl was in.

 

“You must be freezing! What happened to you?” The man guided Jade farther inside the store, handing her a towel from behind the counter.

 

“No time,” Jade exclaimed, starting to frantically search the counter. “Where’s your phone? We need to call the police!”

 

“Okay, okay, let’s just try to stay calm,” the shopkeeper reasoned, “what’s your name?”

 

“Jade,” she responded, still searching.

 

“I’m Desmond,” the older man introduced himself, still trying to grasp the situation. “Can you tell me what happened?”

 

“Listen to me, please!” Jade snapped, her frustration growing. After finally meeting Desmond’s worried gaze, she continued, “some fucking psychopath attacked me and my friends at some building on the other side of the block! And one of them is still in danger and if I don’t get help she is going to die!”

 

“Okay, let me think… Well, phone reception has been terrible since the storm started,” Desmond stated, starting to pace back and forth. “You could give it a shot, but-”

 

“I have to go back,” Jade said as she retrieved a baseball bat that was kept behind the counter.

 

“Wait,” Desmond pleaded, reaching out to stop the girl. Nervously ignoring the death glare he received in return, he added, “you won’t be able to help her in your state.” The goth wasn’t listening, trying to continue her departure. “Just listen, you and your friend _both_ need help. That ankle of yours could be seriously messed up, not to mention that wound of yours.”

 

That caught Jade off guard, causing her to reevaluate herself. She found a tear in her leggings that framed a gash on the side of her thigh. And now that she was out of the rain, a seemingly ever-growing trail of blood now flowed down her leg. Coming to her senses, Jade decided to hear him out.

 

“My car’s out back. We head down to the station and get help for you both.”

 

Jade looked back towards the alley she came from, conflicted and unsure what to do.

 

“Would your friend want you to rush back towards danger, or go get help?”

 

Jade hesitated a moment before lowering her bat. She took a step towards Desmond, who let out a sigh of relief, then happily helped the goth towards the back of the store. He sat her down on a chair and started to unlock the door as Jade wrapped the towel Desmond gave her around her wound.

 

“Wait!” Jade shouted, the feeling of uneasiness starting to overwhelming her.

 

Desmond froze with his hand on the doorknob, “what?” He questioned.

 

“Don’t open the door…”

 

“Why not?”

 

“Something’s out there.”

 

“Huh? What does that mean?”

 

“Just... Please, don’t open it.”

 

“We have to get help right?” Desmond reasoned, to which Jade nodded in response. “Then we have to go this way. We’ll be safe, I promise.”

 

Desmond opened the door, the sound of cascading rain filled the room and the cool breeze blew Jade’s hair back. She relaxed a bit; the small lot behind the store seemingly empty.

 

“See? Nothing to worry about,” Desmond said with a smile, helping Jade to her feet. “Shit, one second.” He added as he stepped away from Jade.

 

“What?”

 

“I forgot to lock the front door. It’ll just be a second. I’ll be right back.” Desmond promised as he disappeared into the darkness of the store, leaving Jade alone with nothing but the sounds of the storm coming through the open doorway.

 

Jade tentatively reached out and closed the door, locking it again just in case. Her eyes stayed glued to the doorway, as if it were to fling open at any moment.

 

“Ready?” Desmond asked as he placed a hand on the goth’s shoulder, causing her to recoil away and land on her injured ankle. “Sorry, sorry.” He apologized as Jade took a seat again, clutching her ankle with a grimace. “I thought you heard my keys jingling.” He said, showing Jade the keys in his hand then going to unlock the door. “Ready to go?” He added, opening the door and turning to the goth.

 

“Guess I was distract- Watch out!” Jade screamed as she looked up, the masked figure standing behind Desmond.

 

The shopkeeper spun around as the masked assailant rushed him, grabbing him by the throat and driving him backward. Desmond slammed into the desk behind him as Jade scrambled to the side to avoid being hit. Desmond brought his forearm down in an attempt to break his captor’s grip but couldn’t muster enough strength to do it. The shopkeeper was quickly fading; the hand around his throat tightening with every second. Desmond watched as the figure raised the knife in his other hand...

 

Jade stepped up at the last second, swinging her bat with as much force as she could. The barrel of the bat splintered into pieces as Jade hit the masked figure over the head, who shrugged off the blow and tossed Desmond over the desk, turning to Jade instead. She watched as the knife was swung at her and raised what was left of her bat in defense. The knife deflected off the bat, slicing Jade on the wrist before both weapons crashed to the floor, each one sliding off in a different direction. She retreated back, tossing over a shelf in front of her in a feeble attempt to stop her attacker. The masked murderer slowly approached her, stepping over the shelf and backing Jade against the wall.

 

Desmond appeared at the last moment to return the favor, now wielding the knife. He charged ahead recklessly, taking a wild swing that the masked figure easily sidestepped. Desmund, undeterred, swung again. This time the knife struck its target in the chest, and Desmond let go, fully expecting the assailant to drop to the floor. Instead, both Desmond and Jade just stared on in shock as the masked killer remained still, seemingly in no hurry to remove the blade.

 

“Desmond, run!” Jade pleaded as she scrambled across the floor and towards the exit, but Desmond couldn’t move. He was frozen, staring into the blank darkness that engulfed everything that was behind that mask. He finally snapped out of it as the masked figure grabbed him by the neck, snapping it instantly with one hand.

 

Jade watched the figure slowly pull out the knife from his chest, staring at the wound with a tilted head.

 

“What the fuck,” Jade whispered to herself, completely unnerved by what she was seeing. She was finally able to look away as her fingers found the cold metal of the keyring. The keys jingled loudly as she stood up, attracting the attention of the masked figure. Jade made a break for the front door in response, crashing shoulder first into it. As she shakily tried each key, she peeked over her shoulder. To her horror, despite the methodical pace, the figure was closing in on her. She tried one last key as the masked murderer reached out for her, and the door clicked open as she burst through the door and into the rain. She ran as fast as she could, only stopping at the end of the block because her ankle wouldn’t allow anymore stress to be put on it.

 

Jade turned back around, seeing the masked murderer standing in front of the store. She watched him through the torrential downpour that surrounded her, as the figure slightly tilted his head to the side and watched her from afar. The goth turned around as she heard a car coming down the street, but the vehicle didn’t slow down for her.

 

“Damn it!”

 

Jade wiped away the rain from her face, turning back around and cursing at herself for taking her eyes off her attacker, who had now disappeared. She decided to continue down the street, still determined to find help.

 

Running up to the first house with a porch light on, she pleaded as she rang the doorbell as quickly as she could.

 

“Hello?! Please, I need help!” Jade peeked through the window to her right, getting right up to the glass in an attempt to see inside. “I can see your shadow in there, please help me! He’s killing my friends...” Jade cried out as the porch light above turned off.

 

Jade turned back around and slid down against the door, the stream of tears from her frustrations lost among the rainwater already on her face. She pondered what to do next as her watery gaze fell down to her ankle, holding it delicately in an attempt to gain strength. With her ankle pulsating with pain, she wanted to curl up in a ball and let the cold take her.

 

_I’m sorry, Tori. I tried. I don’t know what else to do-_

 

The goth’s eyes shot open as she heard a vehicle roaring in the distance and quickly approaching her street. She forced herself up, limping across the lawn before stopping at the curb. She waved her arms, hoping it was enough to flag down the motorist. With the vehicle showing no signs of slowing, Jade decided to do something drastic. The goth took a stand in the middle of the road, hoping the slippery roads would prevent the biker from trying to go around her.

 

To her relief, the motorcycle slowed to a stop and the biker ripped the wet bandana off of his face.

 

“What the fuck are you doing?” The scruffy biker asked, revving his motorcycle at the girl.

 

“I need help, my friends-” Jade started, but was shut down rather quickly.

 

“I don’t give a shit,” he said matter-of-factly, getting ready to go around the goth. “Now move, before I make you move...” He ordered, tying the bandana back around his neck.

 

After everything that she went through so far, Jade wasn’t backing down, “listen, asshole, I’m not asking you to be my knight in fucking shining armor, alright? Just let me use your phone so I can help my friends.”

 

The biker gritted his teeth at the young woman’s insults, reaching out and grabbing the goth by her bad wrist. The biker smiling at the goth’s small yelp. “You sure got a mouth on you, huh?”

 

“Get the fuck off of me,” Jade spat as she struggled, yelping once again as she instinctively put weight on her bad ankle to get into a fighting stance. Her eyes shot back and forth, hoping for someone to help, but the streets remained deserted.

 

“All that tough talk,” he scoffed, his grip still tight. He thought for a moment, then continued, “I guess I could help you.”

 

Jade remained skeptical, shooting the biker a glare as she continued to try to wriggle away from his grasp.

 

“But why would I do that when I could just take all your shit and leave you back on that curb you came from?”

 

Jade looked at the biker incredulously, “ what shit? Do I look like I have anything of value on me?” She immediately regretted her response, feeling gross as the biker’s eyes roamed over her tattered costume but hoped he’d get the point she was trying to make.

 

“Fuck it,” he remarked after staring a bit too long, finally letting the goth go. “I have my own shit to do anyway.”

 

“Wait,” Jade said, noticing a name on one of the patches on the biker’s vest. “Mac, right?”

 

The biker paused, one hand still on the handlebar of his bike, the other out of Jade’s sight. “Q’s getting sloppy, huh? She let one get away. I’m always cleaning up her goddamn messes. So, where is she?”

 

“I can show you.” Jade offered, then continued, “but we need to hurry!”

 

“Why?”

  
  
“I’ll tell you on the way, my friend needs help.”

 

“How about…” Mac started before picking up a sawed-off shotgun from his bag on the side of his bike and setting it down across his lap, “you tell me now.”

 

“Fine,” Jade spat, just wanting to get back to Tori. “We were with your girlfriend when this stalker guy attacked us and-”

 

“Attacked? What do you mean ‘attacked’?” Mac questioned as his posture changed and his expression went from disinterest to concern.

 

“Attacked, as in he had a fucking knife and stabbed my fucking friends!”

 

“And Queenie?” The biker asked, his grip tightening on his gun.

 

Jade paused, thinking carefully about her next move, “last I saw she was with my friend, just a couple of blocks from here!”

 

Mac holstered his gun as his bike roared to life.

 

“Show me.”

 

Jade hopped on the back of his bike, hoping she wasn’t too late. Despite the terrible road conditions it didn’t take long for the pair to reach the front of the building. She found Tori in the same alley she started in, trying to climb a fence to get away from the masked murderer.

 

“Tori!” Jade called out as she hopped off the bike, watching in horror as the brunette slipped and fell, scraping her back all the way down on the chain links of the fence.

 

“Get out of my way kid,” Mac ordered as he charged past Jade, shotgun in hand.

 

Before either girl knew what was going on, a deafening shot rang out as Jade and Tori both flinched back, startled by the blast. When the girls opened their eyes, Mac stood over the masked figure.

 

Tori used this momentary respite to scramble over to Jade, embracing the goth as tears streamed down her face.

 

“You scared the shit outta me,” Tori whimpered into Jade’s shoulder, still not releasing her grip on the goth.

 

Jade gladly returned the hug, accidentally putting pressure on Tori’s new wounds on her back. “Sorry,” she replied quickly before turning to see Mac on one knee, leaning over the killer’s motionless body.

 

“The biker you were harassing earlier, goes by Queenie; tell me where she is or the next shot paints the alley with your brains,” Mac ordered as he flipped the figure over onto their back, placing the barrel of his gun under their chin.

 

“Shoot him!” Jade pleaded, rushing up Mac’s side.

 

“I don’t take orders from you,” Mac said as he turned to look over his shoulder at the goth, pointing at her with his off hand. “Besides, the pussy passed out from the pain, see?” He added, slapping the downed figure’s mask to no response.

 

“I lied, okay?” Jade revealed, wiping the rain away from her face before she continued. “I just needed you to drive me here to help my friend. I’m sorry but your friend is dead. And it’s that guy’s fault so please just blow his fucking head off before-”

 

“You _bitch!_ ” Mac shouted, grabbing the goth by the throat. “You think you can fucking play me?”

 

“Hey, get off of her!” Tori yelled, scrambling to get in between the two.

 

Jade’s frenzied hands fought back as hard as she could as something caused Tori to scream.

 

“Did you two really think you could-”

 

Another deafening shotgun blast rang out, this time hitting an alley wall and sending bits and pieces of brick flying everywhere as Jade was freed from the biker’s grip, falling backward and landing on top of Tori.

 

Mac let the sawed-off shotgun slip out of his grasp as he looked down, feeling the moist metal tip of the knife sticking out of his chest with his fingertips. He looked back over his shoulder, the masked figure now standing behind him then back down at his chest, unable to grasp his dire situation. The figured ripped the knife out of Mac’s chest, causing the biker to collapse. Tori decided not to waste any more time, pulling the goth with her back towards the street.

 

“What are you doing?” Tori questioned as Jade stopped her from heading down the street and instead back towards the biker’s motorcycle.

 

“Hurry, get on!” The goth ordered, showing the brunette the keys she took from Mac during their scuffle.

 

The bike roared to life and the girls raced away from the abandoned building and all the horrors that occurred there. Tori took one last look back, seeing the figure watch them from the middle of the street with a tilted head. Tori returned the gaze until Jade turned the corner and the figure disappeared from sight.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'd just like to quickly thank everyone who supported this story during this long break, be it via comments or kudos, it really helps get me through these times of not being able to update. Hope you like the new chapter, thanks for reading!


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